Opening Night
by hayleynymphadora
Summary: A bunch of Shelby/Rachel mother/daughter one shots that take place after (and sometimes before) Shelby goes to Rachel's opening night on Broadway. I'm happily taking prompts if you have any for me.
1. Opening Night

**Prompt from Defygravity09- Rachel's opening night on Broadway, and Shelby being there.**

**Thanks, baby! This is for you! xo -hayleynymphadora**

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Opening Night

I'll admit, it hurt just a bit when I found out Rachel wasn't saving me a seat for the opening night of Funny Girl. I mean, didn't I tell her that she wouldn't be able to even try to stop me from coming to her opening night on Broadway? I told her that when she had me write her that "killer letter of recommendation". We're Facebook friends, for god's sake. Doesn't she understand that I _know_ when opening night is from her incessant "countdown to opening night" posts?

Hell, maybe she didn't want me to come. Maybe she forgot about me.

But whether she wanted me to or not be damned—I'm here.

It's incredible, to be back in a theatre, even if I'm not performing. It's my baby performing, which makes it better.

True—I suppose I don't have the right to call her "my baby". I was never her mom. I'm just her mother.

But I'm also her friend. At least, that's sort of what we established when I helped with her callback. It's what we established when I wrote her letter of recommendation.

So I'm here. In the audience. I bought fifth row seats—I don't want her to notice me right away. I'll talk to her after the show.

By the time she's singing I'm the Greatest Star, I'm completely struck by her talent. I've always been amazed by her skill, but Fanny is her dream role, and it's amazing that not even a year after she's left McKinley, she's getting her one big chance. Her chance of a lifetime. She's beginning her Broadway career and I'm so proud of her for it. More than words can describe.

At the end of act one I'm speechless. I don't move an inch. I've heard her rendition of Don't Rain on My Parade before, and it is marvelous, but watching her perform it as Fanny took my breath away. She's living her dream. It's beautiful.

The end of act two comes around and I start the standing ovation. I'm also the first one to her dressing room door. And the only one her body guard will let in.

"You look familiar," the guard eyes me up and down.

"I'm Rachel's mother," I inform him. "Can I come in?"

"Does she know you're here?"

"It was meant to be a surprise…"

He's built big and tough but I've been around my best friend Cassie well enough to know that's just his disguise. Most body guards are just big softies.

"Prove you're her mother."

Shit.

"How?" I smile.

"What's her favorite icon?"

"Person or thing?" I challenge.

"Both," he raises an eyebrow, trying not to smile back.

"Gold stars and Barbra Streisand."

"Isn't her mother Shelby Corcoran? The show choir director? The one who used to direct Vocal Adrenaline?"

Does everybody know this? I'm sure now that she's going to be famous it'll be all over the Broadway chat rooms.

"In the flesh," I answer, pushing my hair out of my eyes.

"What's her best friend's name?"

"Are you serious? Kurt Hummel. Can I go see my daughter now?"

He laughs at this. I've actually managed to amuse him.

"I've been messing with you. She told me to keep an eye out—that her birth mother might show up tonight, and if she does let her in immediately."

I have to laugh back. "Is this letting me in immediately?"

He shrugs. "I have to have some fun every once in a while. Do you know how boring it is, just standing outside this door all night?"

I raise a daring eyebrow. "Are you saying that working for my daughter is boring?"

"Nah. She's a sweetheart. But a total diva."

"It's in her genetics." I give him a wink and he lets me in.

She's sitting in front of her mirror. She's taken off her wig and is brushing out her long brown hair. The hair that she got from me. She notices me, out of the corner of the mirror, and she drops her mouth, a smile appearing on her face. "Shelby!" she grins, jumping out of her seat and running towards me, crashing into me with the biggest hug she's ever given me.

"Hey," I laugh and hug her back. "You were incredible. You're so talented. Look at you!" She pulls back so I can see her mega-watt Rachel Berry smile.

She giggles. "I was going to save you a seat, but—"

"But you didn't?" I accuse with a smile. "What you doubted that I would come?"

"There was so much going on, and I just—"

"It's fine, Rachel," I tilt my head and smile. "I'm just giving you a hard time. You obviously thought I might stick to my promise, if you told your body guard about me," I tease.

"Oh, that." She laughs. "Yeah, well I was hoping." She grins and thinks for a moment before hugging me again. "Thank you for coming," she whispered. A tear falls from her eyes and onto my shoulder, bringing tears to my eyes.

_I've missed so much._

"After everything I've missed, Rachel," I let a tear fall. "I wasn't about to miss this too. I would have never been able to forgive myself, and neither would you."

With a sniff, Rachel pulls back from the hug, wipes her tear, and smiles again.

"I love you, Rachel. I'm so proud of you."

"Thank you, Shelby. I love you too."

After the mother-daughter reconnection moment that I've always wanted to happen is over, I say something to break the awkward silence that's bound to happen—it always does, between us.

"Hey, Cassie came too, by the way."

"Cassie? You mean Miss July?! She was here?" Rachel looks astounded.

I give her a confused look. "You didn't want her to come?"

"I didn't expect her to…I thought she hated me."

"Oh, my Rachel," I pull her into a sideways hug. "No one could ever hate you."

Before she can respond, her group of friends comes crashing into the room, yelling and being excited and ready to celebrate. "Go have fun with your friends, okay?" I release her and turn to walk out the door, but not before giving her a parting glance.

She smiles at me as I walk out the door.

This is the best decision I've ever done as a mother to this young girl.

This is the best thing I've done in my entire life.


	2. A Family Dinner

**Prompt: Rachel calls Shelby and nervously invites her to dinner.-Defygravity09**

**Thank you for the prompt, baby! How's this? **

**Let me know if any of you have any prompts for me! **

**Tell me what you think! **

**xo, hayleynymphadora**

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A Family Dinner

Rachel sat at the kitchen table of her apartment. Her phone sat in the middle of it, mocking her, tempting her, daring her. It had been a constant internal struggle since the weekend before, when Shelby had made a guest appearance at Funny Girl's opening night. If Shelby was willing to keep her promise of being Rachel's friend and showing up at her first Broadway performance, then surely Rachel could be her friend too, right? They were both adults and they could act adult. Surely adult friends could sit and have a civilized dinner together, right? They had missed so much of each other's' lives as mother and daughter—now they could at least try to make up for it as friends?

Her phone teased her by merely containing Shelby's number.

_Just do it, Rachel_, she told herself. _The worse she can tell you is no…_ she figured that was her biggest fear—after all this time—fear of rejection. Before she could gather the courage to even pick the cell up, Kurt walked into the kitchen to get a glass of water.

"You still haven't called her?" he asked, exasperated. "It'll be dessert by the time you do! For god's sake, just do it, Rach…" he almost pitied his best friend—he couldn't imagine how scared she must be of actually starting a friendship with Shelby. She had had to go to therapy when she first met Shelby for almost an entire year before she could get over the depression of rejection. However, it was time for them to move past that stage, right? If they were both willing to try…

He picked up the phone for her, unclenched her hand for her, and put the phone in her grip. "Do I have to dial her number for you too?" he shook his head and laughed. "Come on, diva—I have to start dinner if we do in fact plan on eating…"

Rachel took a deep breath and closed her fingers over the phone. But what if her apartment was too messy? She vowed to clean it before Shelby got here. What if they didn't have anything to say to each other and things got awkward? What if she said no? Maybe the Broadway appearance was just a one-time thing….

Slowly, Rachel went into her contact list and pulled up Shelby's number. Her finger hesitated over the green "call" button. Finally, she took a deep breath, and hit the button.

Ring. She inhaled and exhaled slowly.

Ring. Maybe she's not near her cell.

Rachel's heart pounded.

Ring. Maybe she's just busy tonight.

Ri—"Hello?" Shelby's smooth, seemingly carefree voice rang in Rachel's ears. It was a motherly voice—it would've been a great motherly voice, had Shelby decided to stay her mother. She decided not to think about it.

"H-Hi!" Rachel was surprised she had actually answered the phone at all. Wasn't she always like, super busy?

"H-Hi," Shelby joked. "Rachel?"

"Um, yeah, it's me," could she tell by her voice? Or did she have her number in her caller ID? Rachel mentally smacked herself in the head. Why did it matter how Shelby knew?!

"What's up, buttercup?" Rachel could practically hear the joy in Shelby's voice. At least she hoped that was joy.

"Not much…I was just wondering if maybe you…" she trailed off. Maybe this was a bad idea—maybe she wasn't ready for this.

Kurt widened his eyes at Rachel, mouthing,

"What the hell are you doing?!" he gestured his arms forward. "Go on!"

"Do you want to come over for dinner tonight?" Rachel blurted out. "I mean, if you're not too busy? I know it's kind of sudden and maybe it's too sudden to ask, but—"

"Rachel," Shelby laughed.

_Great, now she's laughing at me…_

"Slow down, okay? You sound like me when I get nervous…"

Rachel's face reddened. _Maybe that's because I'm your daughter…_

"It's not too sudden," Shelby continued. "I'd love to come have dinner with you!" She was actually really excited that Rachel was making an effort and was actually asking her over. Maybe their friendship could work after all.

Rachel hurried to correct herself. "I mean, it's not going to just be me—Kurt and Santana live here too—"

"That sounds great, Rachel," Shelby could sense Rachel's extreme nerves. "Would you mind horribly if I brought Beth though? I'm not sure I can get a sitter so last minute…" she felt really bad asking, but Beth was still really little and she couldn't just leave her alone.

"Of-of course you can bring Beth," she hadn't completely forgotten about Beth—"Kurt and Santana have been wanting to see her, too, so…"

"Okay, if you're sure?" Shelby didn't want to overstep her boundaries. She knew the adoption of Beth must have been hard on Rachel…

"Totally, it's fine," Rachel reassured her. "So I'll see you around…six?" she's asking Kurt at the same time and he nods, giving her a thumbs up.

"Yeah, sure," Shelby grinned. This was going to be great…hopefully.

After giving Shelby their address, Rachel practically threw her phone down on the table and rushed around the house to clean every surface she could find that even looked remotely messy. She nearly knocked over Santana as she went, who was walking out of her "bedroom" and towards the kitchen, about to ask what was actually for dinner.

"Slow down, man hands," she laughed. "What's your rush?"

She was ignored by the young brunette who continued what she was doing and pretended the phrase "man hands" didn't offend her. She was used to it.

"Shelby and Beth are coming over for dinner," Kurt informed Santana from the kitchen.

"Ah," Santana wiped her hands together. "It's not like you haven't met her before, Rach." She called out to the girl.

"It doesn't matter!" Rachel yelled back. "She's Shelby Corcoran—things have to be perfect. Remember, she coached Vocal Adrenaline?! Perfection!"

Santana rolled her eyes. "Please. Shelby's not going to care if the house is a little messy. She was my vocal coach for half a year—I know her enough to know that she's not always perfect."

Rachel rolled her eyes too, coming in from the living room area and back to the kitchen to face Santana, "Thank you for reminding me that you know my own mother better than I do, Santana, now either help me or go do something productive."

"You're bossy like your mother," Santana muttered, holding up her hands in the official "I'm innocent" gesture before walking back into the living room to pick up a stack of Kurt's magazines.

Rachel's phone rang and she practically dove for it. "Hello?"

"Rachel, hey, um, I just wanted to let you know that Cassie said she'd watch Beth for me, if you'd rather me come alone tonight…" Shelby informed her. She was at her house getting ready herself, unsure what to wear as she ripped different outfits out of her closet. Cassie sat with Beth on her bed, giving her thumbs up and thumbs down for different outfits.

"Oh," Rachel was surprised at her mother's ability to make her actually feel special. She wasn't going to bring her other daughter. She wasn't going to make Rachel jealous—she was going out of her way, to make sure Rachel didn't get jealous… "Well whatever works best for you," Rachel continued. "I'm sure Miss July's busy doing something…"

At this, Shelby laughed. "Cassandra's a busy person, but she's not too busy to come see her little Beth. I'll be over soon, I guess."

"Okay, see you then,"

"Bye, Rach,"

Rachel hid "end" and set her phone down on the couch, fluffing up the cushions. "She got Miss July to watch Beth."

Santana practically choked on her water. "Miss C is tight with Crazy July?"

Nodding, Rachel sighed. "Apparently they're friends."

"Hmm."

Back at Shelby's apartment, Shelby was out of ideas.

"She's your first born, Corcoran, she's not your blind date. She's saw you walking around her school for half a year for god's sake just put on some clothes and get over there," Cassandra said, rolling her eyes at her best friend's theatrics.

"I've never been to her _house_ before," Shelby said innocently, finding a pair of jeans she felt she should probably never wear again—they weren't her style, with rips all up the sides. They looked a size to small anyways. She tossed them onto the bed and Cass latched onto them immediately.

"These are MINE! How'd they get in your closet?"

Shelby laughed and shrugged. "Who knows?" she sighed and sat down on her bed. "What if she doesn't like me? I sort of ruined her high school life. She's had to go to therapy because of me…"

Cassie pulled Shelby's long brown hair back behind her and ran her fingers through it, comfortingly. "It'll be okay, Shelbs. She's going to love you, no matter what you wear. You're her mom."

"I'm her mother," Shelby shook her head. "It's too late for me to be her mom."

"Maybe not," Cassie stood up and hopped off the bed, going through Shelby's closet and grabbing something simple, throwing it at her. "You'll never know if you don't stop wasting time and get your ass over there."

Shelby knew she was right, but deflected it by saying, "Watch your language around my daughter."

"Never repeat what I say, got it, Beth?" Cass pointed at the little blond before laughing and picking her up, kissing at her cheek. Beth laughed back—almost as if she understood what Cassandra was actually saying to her. "Go and have fun," she shoved Shelby towards the closet. "We'll be here waiting to hear all about it when you get back."

"…okay…" Shelby pulled off the shirt she was wearing and put on what Cassandra had picked out. She had to admit her friend had good taste. "Okay."

She was going to get her first born back.

. . .

They ate and carried on a conversation as they did.

"How've you been doing in your classes, Rachel?" Shelby asked with a smile after swallowing her bite of food. "Is NYADA everything you dreamed it would be?"

"Um," Rachel swallowed her bite. "Yeah, it's great. Your best friend's class is interesting. She's tough but I like the challenge."

Shelby laughed at this comment. "Yes, she's sort of a piece of work, isn't she? But she knows what she's doing."

"I don't doubt it, she's really good." Rachel said hurriedly, taking another bite. She didn't need Shelby going to Miss July and telling her she didn't like her or her class or anything.

Kurt wasn't so caring about it—_he_ wasn't in her class. "How'd you meet Crazy July?"

With a laugh, Shelby nearly choked. It had been a while since she heard that nickname.

"Met her in college," Shelby smiled. "We've been inseparable ever since." She saw Rachel's frigid posture—her nervous, fast paced eating. She put her own fork down. "Honey, you don't have to be nervous around me," she said softly. "I know I haven't really given you reason to trust me…but I'm in this for good now. I'm not going to hurt you, or leave you. I want to make this work, Rachel," she reached across the table and took Rachel's hand. "I'm sorry." Her green eyes sparkled with a warm, motherly love. Her promise made Rachel feel…safe.

"Okay," Rachel said softly. For once, she actually trusted her biological mother.

Santana and Kurt sat awkwardly at the table, thinking maybe they should have let Shelby and Rachel have this dinner alone. It was a big step in their friendship. Slowly, Santana stood and took her plate to the sink. Kurt followed in suit and they went their separate ways, leaving Shelby and Rachel alone at the table.

"I'm sorry you had to go to therapy because of me," a tear slid down Shelby's cheek as she continued. "I'm sorry I was never there for you. I'm sorry I wasn't ready to have a friendship with you when you were in high school. I'm sorry I've been a horrible mother. But I'm so ready to change, Rachel. I'm ready to be the mother you've always wanted, if you'll let me?" she looked so hopeful, so full of light and truth.

Now Rachel was crying. Why had she been so nervous?

"Of course," she smiled and stood, giving Shelby a big Rachel Berry hug. It made Shelby's life to receive these hugs.

_I've missed so much._

The phrase would probably never stop haunting her mind.

But at least now they could start making up for it.

And later on down the road, when they were both older and wiser, they could say that it all started with nothing more than a nervous family dinner.


	3. Gone

**From Baby: Prequel of Shelby being there after Finn's death**

**Guest Reviewer: Rachel needs Shelby's comfort because of Finn's death?**

**Thank you so much for the reviews. This is a prequel to Opening Night, because Finn's death of course, happened before opening night. **

**Any more prompts? Please let me know!**

**With love always, hayleynymphadora**

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Gone

I'm sitting in my apartment, drinking lukewarm honey and lemon water (amazing for the throat and for warming up the vocal chords) when I get the call. I check my caller ID and am completely shocked—It's Rachel.

Rachel never calls me, and I never call Rachel. Not usually. I have her number in my phone from when I lived in Lima. When we thought things could work. But I think I've only ever had to use it once—when I called to tell her I was moving back to New York.

So this must be big.

This must be important.

I answer it, "Hello?"

"He's dead," I hear her broken voice and barely make out the two words she's saying to me. "He's gone."

My mind spins and my heart beats rapidly. Who is?! What happened?!

"Rachel? Who's dead, baby? Who's gone?"

It takes her a minute to respond and I almost say her name again so that she will answer.

"Finn. He's gone, Shelby, he's dead."

Oh, no. No. No. No!

Finn? He was so young! He was so full of energy and optimistic. He was Rachel's rock. The love of her life. Her first love. He kept their whole group together. He had so much potential. He was such an amazing person.

He can't be.

My poor Rachel…

I don't know what to say. How do I respond to that? I listen to her sniffling on the other end and know I have to say something. Maybe I should go over there and comfort her. Before I can say anything, she blurts,

"Can I come over? I just—I really need my—my mom right now and I—I know you said you're my—mother and not my mom but—"

"Rachel, honey, try to take a deep breath. Calm down, okay? Inhale and exhale, or you're going to make yourself sick. Of course you can come over. Are you sure you don't want me to come over there instead?"

Rachel sniffs again. "No, I can't stand—stand it here—it reminds me of—him and I can't—I have to get out—"

"Okay, sweetheart. Okay. Do you want me to pick you up?"

"No, that's—okay—I just hailed a—taxi…"

"Do you know where I live?" I wasn't under the impression I had ever told her.

"I looked—you up."

Oh. She must really need to see me.

"Oh, okay. I'll see you in a minute then, okay?"

"O-kay."

She hung up first.

My poor poor Rachel. This must be so confusing and heartbreaking for her. To lose someone so close to her at such a young age.

I'm not sure what I'm going to say to her. I've never been good at this—at comforting people—and I've never been a good mother to Rachel, so it truly surprises me that she called _me_ and wants to talk to _me_.

Maybe it's because she recognizes that. I'm sure she doesn't want to hear all the "It's going to be okay" bull that people have likely been trying to shove down her throat since she found out. She wants real advice, and she knows that's something that as a coach, I can most likely give her.

Plus, I'm her mother. I might never have been very good at being her mom, but I am her mother. And she needs me.

Beth is asleep—it's well past 8 o'clock and going on 9 at night—and I have the monitor next to me so I can hear if she wakes up. For now it's just me and Rachel.

She knocks on the door some time later and I open it to see her, a complete mess, on my doorstep. I wrap her into a tight hug. The tightest hug I've ever given her. "I'm so sorry, Rachel," I whisper. She sobs into my shoulder and I hug her tighter. As if the mere force of my hug can make the world a better place. I'm not so sure about that. But if I can help her in any way, I'm going to.

I've made us some tea, and after I close the door and we walk into the living room and sit down on the couch, I set hers in front of her.

"Thanks," she chokes out. I don't let her go. She needs a mother's grasp right now.

"I know this must be hard for you," I start, unsure where I'm going to take all of this and hoping to god that I'm going to say the right thing. "I know that it's scary, and I know that the last thing you want to hear from me is that it's going to be okay, because it doesn't feel like it. And in reality, it won't be okay. It will never be okay that he's gone."

She nods, and pulls herself closer to me, sobbing into my chest. My heart breaks as she clings to me. Like the little girl reaching for her mother. The little girl who I missed out on raising.

A tear slips down my cheek as I watch my daughter mourn.

But tonight isn't about me.

It's about Rachel.

"He loved you, Rachel. None of this is your fault. None of this is anybody's fault. It just happened. You can't fix it, you can't change it. So sweetheart, you have to learn to accept it, and you have to be strong enough to move on for him because you know it's what he would have wanted."

She nods in my chest again and continues to weep. I stroke her hair as I speak to her, my voice low and sincere. She curls her body up towards me, clinging to my sweater.

"Next to me, he's always been your biggest fan, Rachel. He would want you to be strong. So very strong. Because he knows that you can do it. You're his star. And you have to continue to follow your dreams. You can't give anything up. If anything you have to fight harder. Do it for him, okay?" I hug her tighter.

"I love you so much, Rachel. And I'm so sorry this happened."

I had called Will to learn about what happened. It's tragic. It shouldn't have happened, but it did. And it is happening. And Rachel is suffering.

"He wouldn't want you to suffer, Rachel."

She tries to concentrate on her breathing. Slowly, she inhales and exhales against me, sniffling and wiping away her tears. Finally, after about five minutes of silence, she looks up into my eyes.

"Thank you," she whispers.

"Of course, Rachel. I know it hurts, baby, but he wouldn't want you to suffer."

Her fingers go to grasp her necklace.

A silver necklace with one name written across the strand.

Finn.

"I know," she whispers, a small smile forming on her lips. "He wouldn't." I wipe a final tear from her cheek and then wipe my own with my sleeve.

While still staying near me, she reaches out for her tea and sips it slowly.

This closeness is special. This closeness is new.

And though this night isn't about my relationship with Rachel, it sort of is. She came to me for comfort. _Me. _She sought out my help.

The best part is I could give it to her.

I've helped her.

For once I've done something right between us.

My poor Rachel. She needed me to be a mom tonight, not a mother.

I'm thankful I could give her that.


	4. Firstborn

**From Baby: Rachel watching Beth for Shelby and finding out how much Shelby has told Beth about her.**

**A/N: Beth has recently turned 4, and Shelby had a sudden thing for work come up, so she called Rachel to watch Beth at last minute because Cassie's out of town. A few weeks or so after Rachel's opening night. It's the middle of the day and the middle of the week, so Rachel doesn't have a show to do.**

**Thank you baby! Another one for you! **

**That was all of the prompts I've received for this series of oneshots so far, so if you have any please let me know either in reviews or PM me! **

**Oh, and I forgot to add in the first oneshot, I don't own Glee, **

**or in this oneshots case, Don't Rain on My Parade.**

**With love always, hayleynymphadora**

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Firstborn

"Thanks again for watching Beth for me, Rachel. SO much. If this work thing hadn't come up I wouldn't have asked so suddenly…But Cassie was out of town and I couldn't think of anyone else so short notice—"Shelby paces around the house and I smile softly. It's been a few weeks since my opening night on Broadway—the night that Shelby and I sort of had a silent agreement to actually be friends. Within that time, I haven't gotten to know Beth very well. In fact, I've only seen her a few times, and I told Shelby I'd be happy to watch her for a few hours but I'm not sure Shelby believes me.

"It's fine, Shelby, really. I told you I'm happy to do it."

"Are you sure?" Shelby stops in front of me to put on her heels. I've never seen her move this fast to go do something. This work thing must be pretty important. Since she's in Show Business I suppose anything's considered important. In any case, as long as I'm at the theatre in time for my show, I am fine with looking after Beth.

"Positive," I smile. As if on cue, Beth runs out of her room and latches onto her mother's legs.

"Mama, where're you going?" she asks curiously, her blonde curls bouncing at her shoulders. The older she gets the more she looks and sounds and acts like Quinn.

"Mama has to go into work for a little bit, baby. But Rachel's going to stay with you, okay?"

"Not Aunt Cassie?" she wonders, her eyes wide and confused.

Shelby shakes her head with a laugh. "Aunt Cassie's out of town, remember? She went to visit her sister…" Shelby grabs her purse and places a kiss on top of Beth's head. "I promise I'll be back soon."

Beth just smiles at her. "Okay."

Just like Quinn except for that smile. That dopey smile is ALL Puckerman.

"Thank you Rachel," Shelby says again before shutting the door.

"You're welcome," I say after she shuts it. I smile down at Beth.

"Hey you."

"Hi, Rach!" she says excitedly.

I laugh. She's so adorable. And definitely energetic.

"What do you want to do while you're mother's gone, munchkin?"

It's weird to just call Shelby _her_ mother. I was tempted to say "while our mom's gone", but I didn't want to confuse her. I suppose just saying "while mom's out" might've worked. Oh well. Too late now. I guess my and Shelby's relationship is a little weird right now anyways. I'm not even sure what it is. But it's something, and that's better than nothing.

Beth shrugs. "I don't know." She looks around the room for stuff to do. She points to Shelby's acoustic guitar in the corner. "Can you play?" she wonders.

I shake my head. "I don't know how to play guitar," I admit. I spy the grand piano next to it. "But I can play piano. Is that okay?"

Beth nods her little head rapidly and takes my hand, dragging me over to the piano. "Play and sing for me?"

Pressing my lips together with a smile, I look down at her. "How did you know I can sing? Don't tell me it was a lucky guess?"

"Mama told me." Beth shrugs, pulling me down into the piano seat. "Playyyyy."

I can't help but laugh. "Mama told you?"

She nods again. "Playyyyyyyyy."

So, I open the cover and put my fingers on the keys, playing out the melody to Don't Rain on My Parade, the first thing that comes to my mind.

"_Don't tell me not to live just sit and putter,_

_Life's candy and the sun's a ball of butter,_

_Don't bring around a cloud to rain on my parade…"_

While singing, I think about what Beth just said. Mama told her. So…Shelby talks about me? Shelby talks to Beth about me?

"_Don't tell me not to fly,_

_I've simply got to,_

_If someone takes a spill,_

_It's me and not you._

_Who told you you're allowed to rain on my parade?"_

I don't have to think about lyrics or notes or keys while I sing this song—I could do it in my sleep, and Beth seems to be really enjoying it. What I want to know is what all Shelby has told her about me. I wasn't under the impression that I made enough of an impression on Shelby for her to talk to other people about me. Does this mean, I dare ask, that she's actually proud of her first born?

"_I'll march my band out,_

_I'll beat my drum,_

_And if I'm fanned out,_

_Your turn at bat, sir, at least I didn't fake it,_

_Hat, sir, I guess I didn't make it…_

_But whether I'm the rose of sheer perfection,_

_Or freckle on the nose of life's complexion,_

_The cinder or the shiny apple of it's eye,_

_I gotta fly once, I gotta try once,_

_Only can die once, right, sir?_

_Oh life is juicy, juicy and you see, _

_I've gotta have my bite, sir,"_

At this point, Beth's sitting on my lap and I have to reach around her to hit the keys.

"_Get ready for me love, cause I'm a commer,_

_I simply gotta march my heart's a drummer!_

_Don't bring around a cloud to rain on my parade._

_I'm gonna live and live now,_

_Get what I want, I know how._

_One roll for the who she-bang,_

_One throw that bell will go clang! _

_Eye on the target and WHAM,_

_One shot one gun shot and BAM!_

_Hey there Beth Corcoran,"_

I sing out her name and she giggle and I tickle her sides and she laughs

"Rachieeee!" before I continue.

"_Here I am._

_I'll march my band out,_

_I'll beat my drum,_

_And if I'm fanned out,_

_Your turn at bat sir, at least I didn't fake it,_

_Hat sir, I guess I didn't make it,_

_Get ready for me love cause I'm a commer,_

_I simply gotta march my heart's a drummer nobody _

_NO nobody, is gonna rain on my parade!"_

Beth claps and laughs. "Again! Again! Was that from your show?"

I smile down at her. "How did you know that?"

"Mama says you're in a show. On Broadway. Like where she works?"

Bouncing her on my lap, I say, "Your mom runs a Broadway daycare and teaches Broadway classes, Beth. But yes, that's from the show I'm in."

"Can I watch?" she wonders, hopping off my lap and walking towards the couch, plopping herself down not on it, but in front of it. I giggle.

"Watch what, silly girl? My show?"

Beth nods.

"Maybe someday soon, okay? But not tonight. Your mama's too busy to take you tonight."

Beth cocks her little blonde head to the side in curiosity. "Can't you take me?"

The young little Corcoran is very curious. Curious and thirsty for knowledge like Quinn, and quick to sneak in the right questions, like Puck. Can't I take her to my show tonight? Well, no. Maybe not tonight. Shelby can't come home from work in time to get ready for a show that she may or may not be able to afford. But some time? Definitely. I mean, if it's okay with Shelby, I don't see why she couldn't.

"Someday, okay, Bethie? Just not tonight."

"Okay," she seemed alright with that, as long as I hold my "someday" promise. But like Beth, I am curious.

"What else has your mama told you about me?" I ask her, walking over to the couch to sit in front of her.

Beth puts her finger to her chin to think. I can't help but smile at her. She's just too cute. "She said you're really beauty-full. And that you sing well. And that you're in a show on Broadway."

For a four year old, Beth could speak pretty well, I observe. No doubt Shelby's spent hours working with her.

And apparently talking to her about me.

"Oh, is that all?" I laugh.

"Nope!" Beth says, catching me off guard. So there's more?

"She said she's really proud of you, even though you're not really hers."

I feel like my heart just stopped beating.

"She…she said that?"

"Mmmhmm. What'd that mean?" she wonders.

Shelby's proud of me? Even though I'm not really hers…

"It means that your mom and I are closer than I thought."

And it's true. If I mean so much to her that she talks to her daughter about me…that Beth knows so much about me is…it feels really good. It feels really good to think that Shelby thinks about me apart from when she sees me at all, is an amazing feeling.

My mother…actually loves me…she really cares about me…she talks about me.

Shelby Corcoran talks about me.

ME.

Her firstborn.


	5. A Mother and a Mom

**Thank you guys so much for all of the prompts i've been getting! Keep them up!**

**So you all know ahead of time though, on thursday i'm going on vacation until sunday and won't have internet. or phone signal. so there will be no posting again after tomorrow until monday at the soonest. It's not that i'll be ignoring you guys (because i love you and would never ignore you!) or that i haven't written because i'm sure i'll write in a notebook all weekend xD it'll just be that i have no way to get stories to you. Sorry! For the record i didn't agree to this, i'm being taken camping against my will...yeah...**

**Anyways, this idea was prompted by two guest reviewers. Thank you so very much! Tell me what you think about this! I know, it's very short, but it's a short little scene that didn't really need 4,000 words to describe, you know?**

**with love always, hayleynymphadora**

**p.s: you can continue to send prompts (please do,) because even though i'll be gone, they'll be sent to my email and i'll get them when i return!**

**2 guest reviewers prompted: Rachel finally deciding to call Shelby "Mom".**

* * *

**A Mother and a Mom**

Shelby and Rachel were sitting in Rachel's living room, laughing and talking and drinking hot cocoa and enjoying each other's company. It had been a little longer than a month since opening night, and they had become close friends. But recently Rachel hadn't felt like "friends" was the right word anymore. Shelby gave her really good motherly advice. She was always worried when Rachel's voice sounded like the slightest thing could possibly be wrong. She helped Rachel with everything, even if she didn't ask for it. She shared experience stories with her and protected her from everything. They talked about feelings and her hugs felt magical.

After all this time, Rachel thought it was finally about time she started calling Shelby her mom. Shelby had always just been her biological mother and friend. But now she really felt like her mom, and it was an amazing feeling.

The part that concerned Rachel the most was the fact that she wasn't sure how well Shelby was going to take it. Last time Rachel had called her "Mom", she had freaked out, said she would call her later, and that things might not be able to work the way she had planned. She figured the idea of being her mom as well as her mother sort of intimidated her at the time… that it reminded her of all the guilty feelings she had for never really being Rachel's mom.

But things were so different now, weren't they? Shelby was Beth's mom, and she had been acting an awful lot like Rachel's mom too. So, Rachel knew it was time to at least try the name out. If it didn't work, it didn't work, but she would never know until she tried.

She took a deep breath as Shelby took a drink of her cocoa. It was now or never.

"…Mom? How did you know that Broadway was your true love?"

Shelby stopped mid-drink and slowly lowered her mug of cocoa. Had Rachel really just called her Mom? Were they finally at that point in their relationship? Shelby's heart leapt and she couldn't stop the huge mega-watt grin from plastering about her face. "You called me Mom," she said softly, happily.

Rachel smiled back at her. "…Yeah, I did," she said with a small laugh. After which she looked at Shelby, cautiously, "…Is that okay?"

"Oh, sweetheart," Shelby set her mug down and stood, walking towards Rachel. Rachel stood too and Shelby pulled her into one of those magical mother hugs. "Of course that's okay. I am your mom."

_I am your mom._ Rachel never thought she'd hear the words come out of her mother's mouth but there they were. She was her mother, and she was also her mom, and it was incredible.


	6. Flu

**Again, thank you thank you thank you for the prompts! I love you guys and gals and I love writing and I love writing for Glee. And It's a good thing you give me prompts to write because i'm sometimes creative but not creative enough to think of them on my own! xD**

**here was this chapter's prompt:**

**Ali: Great chapter! For a prompt, you could do that Rachel gets sick or injured, and Shelby takes care of her.**

**Thank you SOOOO very much! This one's for you!**

**with love always, hayleynymphadora**

* * *

**Flu**

Rachel wasn't even sure if she could reach for the phone to call and tell Rupert that she couldn't perform that night. She wasn't sure if she'd be able to actually talk to him either. Her throat felt like someone had taken a knife and shoved it down, making sure they hit every part of the wall of her throat that they could. She wasn't sure how this had come about, but she did not like it—not at all.

She decided to just text him. _Can't perform tonight._ She wrote. _Can't even talk. I'm sorry. Santana will be happy to fill in, she's already on her way._

He wrote back literally SECONDS later. _Sorry to hear you're so sick, Rachel. I hope to see you the second you're better. Get lots of rest and by all means, SAVE YOUR VOICE._

Typical that the only thing he would REALLY care about was how well she could sing, not how healthy she was. That was Show Business, she supposed.

Before Rachel could even set the phone down, it started ringing. Slowly, she answered it,

"Hello?" she managed to choke out.

"Rachel? Are you okay? You sound horrible," leave it to Shelby to be blunt. Rachel put her hand to her forehead and sighed.

"I'm really sick, Mom. I can't even—"she turned her head away from the receiver to cough. "I can't perform tonight, I sent Santana in—she's my—"she coughed again. "My understudy."

Without even asking any questions, Shelby said, "I'll be right there."

"I don't want to get you—"but it was too late for Rachel to say that she didn't want to get Shelby sick, because Shelby had already hung up.

10 minutes later and Shelby was on her way to the apartment. She had called Cassandra (literally her savior in these situations) to watch Beth. Kurt had left the apartment to go to support Santana on her "opening night", (considering this was the first time Rachel couldn't perform), and Rachel was left alone. Her Rachel could not be left alone while she was so sick! It just wasn't right. And Shelby felt a twinge of guilt in her heart—she had never been there when Rachel was younger and sick, and she felt awful for that. But she was here now. She could help now.

She knocked on the apartment door before letting herself in. She and Rachel had grown comfortable with each other now. Rachel even called her "Mom" now, (something that Shelby absolutely LOVED and was still getting used to). "Rachel?" She asked, stepping into the apartment. She was careful not to talk too loud. Depending on Rachel's sickness, loud noises could be killer.

"In my bedroom…" her voice was so quiet and raspy, breaking Shelby's heart. Slowly, Shelby opened the curtain that separated bedrooms and stepped into Rachel's.

"Hey, baby," she said softly. "Do you know what you have? That'd make it easier to treat."

"I think it's a flu," she answered.

"Sounds like strep…" Shelby said, taking a thermometer out of her bed and walking towards Rachel. "Open up,"

Rachel took the thermometer in her mouth, hesitantly. She wasn't used to being babied while she was sick—usually her dads would drive her to the doctors, they'd give her medicine, and she'd make herself tea and buy herself Kleenex for the rest of the week. The time she had Laryngitis, Finn helped her more than her dads did. She almost had to have surgery and they weren't even home to talk to her about it.

At the sound of a beep, Shelby took the thermometer out. "102. Yikes…" she set the thermometer down on Rachel's side table and went into Rachel's bathroom. "Where do you keep the washcloths?" she asked.

"Top cupboard," Rachel responded slowly. "..Why?"

"I'm going to try to help that fever," Shelby explained, wetting down a washcloth with cold water and folding it into a rectangle. After walking back towards Rachel, she carefully set it on her forehead.

"Oh," Rachel said, surprised. She had never thought of that before. Maybe it was a good thing that she had a mom who would help take care of her now. Shelby clearly had a lot to teach her.

"Keep that on your forehead, when that side gets warm you flip it, and when that side gets warm I'll wet it down again, okay?" Rachel nodded as Shelby gave out instructions. "Now, how much water have you been drinking?"

At this, Rachel scrunched up her nose. "It hurts swallow."

Shelby shook her head. "All the more reason to drink water. Lots and lots of water. If you have strep, or even the flu, the absolute last thing you want to do is add dehydration to it." She headed out towards the kitchen and took a huge water bottle out of the side cupboard, filling it to the top. She went back to Rachel's bedroom and handed it to her. "You need to drink it, baby," she instructed. "It'll make you better, I promise. If you want to see the rainbow, you have to put up with the rain."

This comment made Rachel smile, softly. Shelby smiled back and Rachel drank and winced. Shelby winced back. "Sips," she said.

Rachel nodded, sipping on the water through the straw of the bottle before very slowly setting the bottle down next to her. It hurt to move her muscles.

"Muscles sore, aren't they?" Shelby observed. "You're tired and you need to sleep, okay?" she picked up the washcloth from Rachel's forehead, kissed her forehead, her lips lingering, to check her temperature again, (it hadn't yet gotten better) and flipped the cloth.

Rachel nodded at her mom's suggestion. "Okay," she said hoarsely. "Thank you,"

"Of course, Rach," Shelby smiled warmly at her. "Feel better soon, okay? I'll be in the living room if you need me."

Rach nodded again and hugged her blankets to her, falling asleep almost immediately. Shelby left her bedroom and went out into the living room, sitting on the couch. She reached into the bag she brought and pulled out her phone to text Cass and make sure Beth was okay.

_How's my little Beth?_ She wrote.

**Beth's fine. How's Schwimmer?**

_Her name is Rachel, Cass._

**I know. You didn't answer the question.**

****Shelby rolled her eyes at Cassandra's need to constantly tease her daughter. She yelled at Cass for it frequently, but had yet to get her to cease fire. She'd find a way, somehow.

_She's very sick, and I'm not sure what she has, but she seemed grateful I was here to help her…I hope…I don't want to overstep my boundaries…_

**You aren't overstepping any boundaries, you're her mom. It's your job to make her feel better and help her when she's sick. At least, it should be. Don't make the mistake that our mothers did. Just because they weren't there for their kids, doesn't mean you can't be for yours. Tell her I hope she feels better, kay?** She attached a picture of Beth and Shelby smiled. **You have two amazing daughters, Shelbs, and they both love you.**

And Shelby couldn't be more grateful for it.

_Okay. Thanks, Cassie. I think I'm going to make Rachel dinner. I'm almost positive she hasn't eaten all day._

**You're welcome. Keep me noted.**

_Kay._

Shelby put her phone away and stood. She stretched out her body and smiled at the fact that yes, she did have two amazing daughters and now she had great relationships with both. She could finally help Rachel when she needed her the most and it was the best feeling in the world. She checked on Rachel, who was still fast asleep, before walking into her kitchen and searching her cupboards for something to make that Rachel could keep down, and something that wouldn't completely obliterate her throat.

She decided on soup. There was canned soups in the pantry and she narrowly avoided anything with meat—she remembered that Rachel was a vegan. In the back of the cupboard, she found a can of tomato soup. If she made it with water, that would work, right? Right.

Shelby made Rachel the soup and put basil in it, for flavor. She avoided any seasonings, knowing it would definitely not make Rachel's throat feel better. By the time her soup was done and cooling, Rachel was up and slowly making her way around the apartment, towards the kitchen table.

Turning around, Shelby saw her daughter and started filling a bowl for her. "You're out of bed?" she said.

"I had to go to the bathroom—"Rachel turned her head and coughed into her arm. "Then I smelled food. Soup?"

Shelby nodded. "Keen nose, young one. I made you tomato soup for dinner, is that alright?" she set the bowl and a spoon down in front of Rachel and sat down in the seat across from her.

Rach nodded. "Yeah. You didn't have to—do that."

"Yes I did," Shelby said with a small smile. "You're my daughter, you're sick, and I'm going to take care of you. I regret that I wasn't there before…"

Rachel blew softly on her soup and looked up at her mom with sad eyes.

"But that doesn't matter anymore," Rach said. "You're here now." She took the spoonful of soup in her mouth and swallowed. "And this soup is amazing. This is not—normal soup—what'd you do to it?"

Shelby couldn't help but laugh. "I added basil and some other ingredients for flavor, is all, really. I couldn't have my daughter eating bland soup."

With a small laugh, Rachel winced at the slight pain it caused her before saying, "No, we musn't—"she turned to cough. "Musn't have that."

After Rachel finished her soup, the two women sat on the couch together. "You feeling any better, baby girl?" Shelby wondered.

"A little bit. All thanks to you," Rachel smiled up at her.

Shelby pulled her into a side hug. "I'll always be here to help you, Rachel," she promised. They sat in what was finally a comfortable silence between them before Shelby said, "Do you want to watch something to make you feel better?"

Rachel perked her head up. "What did you have in mind?"

"…West Side Story?"

With wide eyes, Rachel practically exclaimed, before realizing how badly it would hurt, "How did you know—"

"West Side Story is always the answer," Shelby said with a wave of her hand. "And if it's not then the answer is,"

"Funny Girl," the two said in unison. They giggled and Rachel took a sip of water that didn't hurt AS bad as it had before. After breakfast Shelby had given Rachel an aspirin for her muscle aches and then made her honey-lemon water, which had helped her throat. Shelby fixed up the TV and put in West Side Story before sitting back on the couch with Rachel and draping a blanket over her. "I'm glad you're starting to feel better, Rach," she said sincerely.

Rach smiled up at her and hugged her. "Me, too. Thank you, mom."

"Always, baby girl." Shelby hugged her back.


	7. A Mother and a Mom, Pt 2

**From Guest Reviewer; PROMPT:**

**Can you write one continuing after "A mother and a mom" when Rachel asks her about the day she was born?**

**Thank you so much for the prompts! If you have any more, remember to just review or PM me! (preferably before tomorrow, so I can work on them while i'm gone? But if not, like I said before, I'll write when I get back.). I'm not sure how many I can get done today but I will try!**

**How is this? Let me know what you think!**

**With love always, hayleynymphadora**

* * *

**A Mother and a Mom pt.2**

Rachel shifted in her seat. After their hug, they had sat back down and started talking again. They talked about a little of everything, but since Shelby was vulnerable now and Rachel wasn't sure that this was a very common thing, she decided to ask the question she had been dying to ask all day. Well, since forever, really. She had always wanted to know,

"Mom?" she asked.

Shelby's heart melted again. She wasn't sure she'd ever get used to hearing that. She was Rachel's _mom_.

"Yes, Rachel?" she answered softly.

"Can I ask you a question?"

"Of course, baby girl," Shelby felt sort of bad that Rachel didn't think she had open range of question asking. Rachel was the first person she had been so open with in…years.

"What was it like…the day I was born?" She thought about the way she worded the question and added quickly and nervously, "NOT—not that I'm pregnant and want to know about labor or anything—god that wasn't what I was asking I just wanted to know what it—what it was like to—"

"To give you to your dads?" Shelby supplied for her, sadly.

Rachel nodded, glad that her mom caught her meaning so she didn't have to stutter her explanation. She never seemed to be good with words when it came to talking with Shelby. Sometimes her mom could make her so nervous. She never wanted to say the wrong thing...because what if her mom decided to leave again? She wasn't sure she could deal with that.

Shelby took a deep breath before she answered. This topic was the touchiest topic in her life and she despised thinking about it, especially now that she had Rachel back, but if it would give Rachel some sort of closure, she decided she was willing to do it.

"Well, I was terrified," she started, making herself more comfortable in her chair as Rachel did the same. "When my water broke? I was absolutely terrified. You were a month early, first of all, so I was afraid something was wrong. I was afraid your dads would get mad if something was in fact wrong, even though I had done EVERYTHING right. There are a lot of things I've messed up in my life, Rachel, but when I carried you I made sure everything was perfect. The second I felt you growing inside of me you had my heart. I made sure to give you the best life I could give you for as long as I could."

She picked at the sleeve of her sweater and took a deep, shaky breath before she continued. "I...I hated myself." She shook her head. "The second I felt you. The second I realized how real it was. I hated myself for ever signing anything. For ever agreeing to anything. For EVER saying I'd give you to your dads."

Shelby wiped a stray tear that had made its way down her cheek and Rachel felt bad for making her cry, but she just had to know. It had been killing her for as long as she could remember.

"The day I gave birth to you was the best and worst of my life. Out of all the trophies and competitions I've won, Rachel, you're my biggest accomplishment in life. By the time I was in labor with you I had loved you for 8 months already. You were the light and joy of my life. I'd stay up late at night just to feel you kick to Don't Rain on My Parade." She laughed lightly and wiped another tear. "I'd sing to you until we fell asleep. But the day I gave birth to you I knew all of that had to end. I knew that I'd never see you again, or at least that's what I was lead to believe…"

Now Rachel had tears in her eyes that she let fall. She didn't expect Shelby's answer to be so…emotional. She felt bad for even asking such a personal question. But it was too late to stop now.

"I tried to keep you for as long as I could. They told me there was nothing wrong, you were just premature. I gave birth to you naturally, no pain killers or anything. I hated myself for what I was doing—not giving birth to you but giving you away—and I felt that it wasn't fair if I didn't feel every inch of pain in the process. And it did hurt," she added with a small sad smile. Rachel smiled softly back at her as she continued.

"But you were—are—you're worth the pain, Rachel…I never got to hold you," her voice broke as she continued, tears falling down her face rapidly. She couldn't wipe them up with her sleeve fast enough. Rachel's eyes widened at her mother's pain.

"Mom you don't have to—"

Shelby shook her head. "Yes I do. I never got to hold you. I had you, they cut the cord and they took you away to clean you off. I looked up to see you as the nurse took you away. I swear to god you turned your little head and you looked at me. And I thought "What the hell have I done?" I knew I had made the worst mistake of my life, giving you to your dads. And I did. It's my biggest regret."

Shelby's hand shook as she wiped her tears up and Rachel stood, walking over towards her. Shelby didn't see, as she had her head down. Rachel sat down on Shelby's lap and wrapped her arms around Shelby's neck.

"You have me now, Mommy." She said softly. "I'm still your baby girl. I'll always be your baby girl."

Shelby hugged her tighter than she had ever hugged anybody as she cried. "I love you so much Rachel. I'm so sorry. For everything."

"Don't be sorry Mom," Rachel whispered. "It's okay. We're okay."


	8. 20th Birthday

**Hanna: This chapter was so heartbreaking, (referring to Shelby comforting Rachel over Finn's death) but good. An idea for a prompt is that it's Rachel's birthday, and Shelby goes overboard to make it perfect, since it's the first one she's there for. I love how you write their relationship!**

**Thanks so much for the prompt! And thank you for reviewing and i'm glad you love how I write their relationship! I hope you enjoy this one as well!**

**With love always, hayleynymphadora**

* * *

**20****th**** Birthday**

On December 18, Shelby woke to her alarm going off at 5:30 a.m. She sat up and stretched her arms forward, stretched her back, and rubbed her eyes.

_20 years._ She thought to herself in amazement. _20 years ago today I was 18 and I had a daughter. And this is the first birthday of hers I'll ever be attending. The first. Out of 20 years._ She swung her legs over the side of the bed and practically jumped up out of it. _And it MUST be perfect._

Shelby had planned a huge surprise party for Rachel. She had set up everything for it weeks earlier with Santana, and Kurt. Everyone was doing their part to contribute, but Shelby had made it all happen because she wanted to make things up to Rachel. She HAD to make things up to Rachel. She was NOT, ABSOLUTELY NOT going to miss any other birthdays if she could help it. She was going to make things right.

Rachel was going to be at rehearsals all day—they were touching up parts of Funny Girl and working on perfecting it for this new critic that was coming about—so they had all day to make the apartment dazzle.

Picking up her phone, Shelby sent a quick text to Kurt,

**I'm on my way over, anything we've forgotten that I need to get?**

She knew he'd be awake, making all of them breakfast. Like it's been said before—they planned all of this way in advance. 20 was a big number. Especially since they were talking about Shelby's little girl.

He answered back almost immediately.

_No, and if there was something you wouldn't be able to get it right now because then Rachel would see it. She's still here; apparently they switched the times and she doesn't have to be at the theatre until 6._

Shelby bit her lip. It was a 30 minute set back. They would be fine, right? RIGHT?

But Shelby Corcoran had always been OCD about perfection. That was the kind of person that she was, and a change in the plans did not settle her stomach by any means.

**Okay. Well in any case, I'll be right there.**

_See you in a few 3_

Over the period of time that Shelby and Rachel had begun their mother/daughter relationship, Shelby and Kurt had also become pretty close friends. She was already close to Santana and Mercedes from the Trouble Tones, and she knew Sam and Blaine from the classes she subbed in and what-not. She wasn't sure about Dani, but she knew that she and Santana made a cute couple and from what she'd seen of her, she seemed like a nice girl. She was looking forward to working with all of Rachel's friends to make her day perfect.

She went into Beth's room to wake her up. She felt bad waking her youngest up so early, but she knew that Beth was excited to spend the day with all of Rachel and all of her friends.

Shelby sat down in front of Beth and caressed her face softly. "Beth, sweetheart, it's time to wake up now."

Beth scrunched up her nose and turned to the side.

"Come on, sweet one," Shelby laughed, lightly tickling her youngest daughter's sides. "Don't you want to go see Rachel?" she asked. "It's Rachel's birthday, remember?"

At this news, Beth slowly opened her eyes. "Rachie's birthday," she said, remembering with a smile. "Happy Birthday Rachel!"

Shelby laughed, "I'm not Rachel, silly. Tell HER happy birthday." She got Beth dressed and ready for the day and they were off towards Rachel's apartment. When they got there, they found Kurt flipping eggs and making toast and Santana sipping coffee at the kitchen table, seemingly half asleep, and Rachel busting her ass to get her stuff together because she slept in, apparently.

"I can't BELIEVE you let me sleep in, Kurt!" she fumed.

"It's your birthday, Rach, relax, okay? You're still going to make it to rehearsal on time. You looked so peaceful all asleep in your bed."

Listening to the conversation, Shelby set Beth down on the floor and watched the little blonde run over to Santana, excitedly. Santana was her buddy—she used to watch Beth for Shelby when they lived in Lima.

"If I'm late he's going to kill me!" Rachel complained, running a brush through her hair and throwing her hair back into a bun, putting a head band on her head. "I had to cut my facial routine by 15 minutes."

"So make your 30 minute ritual tonight 45 minutes instead." Santana shrugged. "Problem solved."

Rachel rolled her eyes and grabbed her duffel bag before finally spotting Shelby. "Mom!" she said, dropping the duffel and running over to her with a big hug. "What are you doing here?"

"Telling you happy birthday before your rehearsal," Shelby laughed. "It's the first one I've actually been able to attend." She hugged Rachel back and kissed her cheek. "20's a big number. Have anything planned for tonight?"

"No," she shook her head. "Kurt and Santana said I couldn't plan anything. I guess they've got something in mind…I don't know. I'm really sorry I have to go now but maybe I'll see you after rehearsal?" she said distractedly as she hugged Beth.

"Happy birthday Rachie!" Beth squealed.

"Thank you, sweetie," Rachel smiled.

"I think something can probably be arranged," Shelby smiled knowingly at her. Rachel grinned back.

"Awesome. I love you all, I have to go. Bye!" and she was out the door.

After the door was shut Kurt and Shelby exchanged a glance.

"Operation 20th birthday is a go." He said. "Let's move."

. . .

4 hours later and they knew they only had a few more hours to work. The entire apartment had been turned into a Broadway themed party. Huge red drapes had been put in between the big walkway, parted, to make the living room look like a stage. They had, in fact, turned the living room into a stage, complete with two microphone stands, amps, an electric and bass guitar, and a baby grand in the back.

Lights were attached to the ceiling to fall onto the performers like spotlights.

The walls had been decorated in blown up playbill posters from all of Rachel's favorite musicals. Barbra Streisand had her own wall. Streamers lined the walls and silver and gold and black balloons had been blown up (some floating around with helium and some just blown up with air, drifting across the ground).

A huge gold star balloon sat in the right corner of the stage, the name Rachel Barbra Berry painted across it in black.

"You really went all out, Shelbs," Santana pointed out. "Rachel's going to love it."

"I hope so," Shelby bit her thumb nail. "Do you think it's too over the top?"

Kurt laughed. "I wouldn't expect anything less from Rachel Berry's mom," he gave her a hug. "It'll be great. We have 2 hours to make a cake though. A vegan cake, no less."

"Oh my god a cake!" Shelby put her hand to her forehead. "Damn it! Please tell me you know how to make a vegan cake?!"

Santana put a hand on Shelby's shoulder. "Stop worrying, we can figure it out. We got this."

And they set to work.

An hour later and other people started showing up. First came Sam and Mercedes and Blaine, then Tina and Dani and some of Rachel's NYADA friends. After which came Star Child, Cassandra, and everyone else.

Finally, it was time for Rachel to be home. Nobody hid, because in reality the place was so full there wasn't time or room to hide them all. They all held up glasses of sparkling cider (or in the 21 and over case, champagne), and when she opened the door they all yelled,

"Happy Birthday, Rachel!"

Rachel dropped her duffel bag and dropped her jaw. "Oh my god you guys!" she exclaimed, her mouth forming a huge smile. "I can't believe you did all of this!" she did a spin around to take in the detail of everything. She was dressed differently than when she left the house—Kurt had it arranged for her to meet up with a makeup artist and fashion designer (both from Vogue) to get her in a gorgeous party dress and fix up her hair and makeup for her in her dressing room before she left the theatre.

"Thank your mom," Cassandra said knowingly, giving Rachel a hug. "Happy Birthday, Schwimmer."

The nickname used to irritate Rachel but she had grown used to it now. If she wasn't Schwimmer, or something equally taunting, then Cassandra wasn't the one addressing her. She smiled and hugged her back, as well as numerous others, before finally reaching her mom.

"Saved the best for last," she grinned from ear to ear. "Thank you so much, Mom." She hugged Shelby tightly. "Why'd you do all of this? You didn't have to go to all this trouble…"

"It wasn't trouble, Rachel." Shelby smiled and hugged her back. "And yes, I did have to. This is the only birthday out of 20 that I've actually been to. I had to make sure it was perfect. You're only 20 once, you know?"

Rachel pulled away from the hug and looked at her mom with sad eyes. "You did all of this because you felt like you had to make up for 20 years?" she looked around the room, feeling guilty. "You must have spent a fortune on all of this…all of it for me? Mom, you didn't have to make up for anything. We could have just spent the night just you and me and I would've been completely okay with it."

Shelby smiled at her daughter, who was so mature and so beautiful and so grown up. "Well I can take it all back if that's what you want…" she teased.

"No!" Rachel grinned, hugging her again. "Thank you. Will you come sing with me?" she pointed at the microphones. "The stage is calling our names."

Shelby grinned. "Of course I'll sing with you, Rachel."


	9. Strength and Parenting

**Guest: Shelby discovers that Rachel's fathers were not good dads to her.**

**Guest: Maybe Rachel could talk about the problem of her dads with Shelby?**

**Guest:** **Shelby questions Rachel about her dads not coming to her Broadway debut & why she never talks about them.**

**Killing 3 birds with one stone with this one.**

**I've returned to you, my lovelies, and have missed you all so very much!**

**Tell me what you think, thank you so much for all of the wonderful prompts and reviews!**

**If you have any more, you know what to do! xD**

**With love always, hayleynymphadora**

* * *

**Strength and Parenting**

Rachel and Shelby sat on Rachel's bed, cross legged and drinking hot cocoa and talking. It was a new favorite pastime of theirs, as mother and daughter. They were still getting to know each other and could always find something to talk about.

Tonight they were talking about inspirations.

"Do you remember us singing the song, "Loser Like Me"?" Rachel asked, taking another drink of cocoa.

"The one with the slushies and confetti?" Shelby grinned, recalling it. "I remember seeing you all sing it in the choir room, just for the hell of it."

Rachel nodded. "We wrote that song. It was about Sue bullying us and everyone telling us how badly we suck and that we weren't good enough to make it. As much as it hurt, I think all of the bullying was inspiring. It made us who we are, it made us stronger. It makes me sort of understand Ms. July's methods."

"She didn't deliberately bully you, did she?" Shelby asked worriedly. She knew that Cassie's teaching could sometimes get out of hand.

At his, Rachel shook her head, wrapping her hands around her mug. "At the time I thought she picked me out of everyone else just to torture me. But I realize now that at least what she did helped me—prepared me and taught me. She did it to teach; others just did it to be cruel."

Shelby looked at her daughter with sad, apologetic eyes. She felt horrible that she wasn't there for Rachel while she was bullied, and could've been. Shaking her head, she tried to focus on the future and on the now. She was at Rachel's apartment now. Now, she was there to listen and help anyway she could.

"How bad was it, Rachel?" she asked softly.

Rachel pressed her lips together and Shelby thought maybe she had gone too personal.

"You don't have to answer that," she said quickly.

Rach shook her head. "It's fine, I can answer." She moved a free strand of hair behind her ear. "Things could get pretty horrible," her eyes glazed over. "Almost everyone hated me. There wasn't a single person who never took the time out of their day to make my life hell. I was slushied at least twice a week—sometimes in the same day."

Shelby widened her eyes at the story. She couldn't imagine having to get dye out of your eyes and hair and clothes more than twice a week, or at all. Let alone the ice. Especially during school hours in between classes.

"I kept spare clothes in my locker…my dads never knew why I had to go shopping for new clothes so much but they didn't question it—they gave me money and let me go to the mall."

_They didn't question it. _Shelby's heart fell. _Who did I give my daughter to?!_

They had never talked about Rachel's dads. Rachel never talked about them, anyways. Shelby decided to bring them up a little more casually then the conversation they were currently in. Little did she know how touchy of a subject she was treading into.

"Why weren't your dads at your big Broadway debut?" She asked. "You almost never talk about them…"

Rachel bit her lip and Shelby wanted to take the question back but what's said is said.

"They were busy."

Too busy to go to their daughter's opening night on Broadway? Shelby had been busy too—she made time to go. There was a silence and Shelby finally said,

"Your dads never did anything about the bullying?" she was admittedly very furious with Hiram and LeRoy. They had promised to always love and protect her daughter and from what she was hearing that was not something they did.

Rachel shook her head. "They didn't know about the seriousness of it, or they would've done something I'm sure. They didn't know I was bullied at all."

Shelby blinked, incredulous. "They never noticed your pain? Your tears? Your slushy-stained sweaters?"

Again, Rachel pressed her lips together and cocked her head to one side. "Shelby, I'm an actress."

"Well yes, but—"

"They were never home enough to notice, either way." Rachel half-whispered. "They were always busy…"

Confused, Shelby said. "What do you mean, Rachel?"

Rachel shrugged. "They were always working or off doing something. They aren't people to just sit around the house and do nothing."

Shelby could feel her heart breaking. She was under the impression that Hiram and LeRoy had been amazing parents. In the past, Rachel had spoken so highly of them. For nine months, Shelby got help from them—they bought her prenatal vitamins and pregnancy book and doctors visits. They had seemed like amazing people.

"I mean, I love my dads," Rachel recovered. "And I know they love me, so much. I just don't talk to them or about them much. It's just that after I turned like 13, I sort of went independent, you know? I couldn't talk to them about girly things and puberty and bullying. Besides, they always seemed so busy, I didn't want to bother them for too long."

_So they loved you, but gave you too much freedom,_ Shelby thought. _You were just a young girl and they neglected you._

Tears formed in Shelby's eyes. She had unintentionally caused Rachel so much pain. She gave her to dads who failed to care for her as well as they should have. She broke Rachel's heart after Rachel "found" her. She couldn't even blame Hiram and LeRoy because she knew it was hypocritical. Shelby knew that she was never there either. Rachel had basically raised herself and Shelby knew that she was the only one to blame.

If she hadn't, if she weren't, if she didn't.

But she had and she did.

She had neglected Rachel even more than Hiram and LeRoy had.

"I am so sorry, Rachel," Shelby's voice broke. "I had no idea. If I had known how horrible your life was—"

"It wasn't horrible every day," Rachel amended.

"Yes, but still—" Shelby felt awful. Why had she subjected such a wonderful girl to such torture?

"It isn't your fault," Rachel said to her, her voice so sincere that Shelby forced herself to at least try to believe her. But she couldn't help but still feel like the "World's Worst Mother of the Year" award should have been given to her—for 19 years in a row.

"I love you, Rachel," Shelby reached out and took her daughter's hand. "I promise, things will be different from now on, okay? A great different. I'm here for you, now and forever."

Rachel's famous mega-watt grin appeared on her face and she squeezed her mother's hand.

"I can't wait," she smiled warmly.

Shelby looked at her daughter who had raised herself. Who had faced a life full of neglect and bullies and rough situations and was still living her Broadway dream. Her daughter who had stayed so strong. Whom she was so proud of.

"Neither can I," she replied.


	10. Please Don't Leave Me

**Guest prompt: Rachel should talk to her mom about being afraid Shelby wants to leave again.**

**Thank you so much for the prompt! Keep them coming, my lovely readers. I love you all!**

**xoxo, hayleynymphadora**

* * *

**Please Don't Leave Me**

Shelby, Rachel, and Kurt were the only ones in the apartment. They had just finished watching Funny Girl and were about to put in West Side Story. It was a lounging sort of day. Kurt glanced down at the empty bowl in his lap and sighed, getting up off the couch.

"Time for a popcorn refill," he announced, getting up and heading to the kitchen.

Shelby readjusted on the couch and Rachel switched out Funny Girl with West Side Story before sitting next to Shelby again.

"I just can't get used to this," Rachel admitted softly. She tried to make it sound causal but Shelby caught the soft tone of sadness in her voice.

"Get used to what, Rach?" Shelby asked a bit worriedly.

Rachel shrugged, again trying to remain casual. After spending a few months with her daughter, Shelby recognized it as the girl's defense mechanism.

"You being here. Us actually acting like mother and daughter," Rachel admitted. "I mean…I don't know…"

Shelby looked at her daughter, concerned.

"Tell me what's wrong, Rach," she said, softly.

Taking a deep breath, Rachel said, "I guess I'm just afraid this is too good to be true. Like you're going to leave again."

"Oh, baby girl," Shelby sighed, pulling Rachel into a tight hug. The second her mom touched her, Rachel burst into tears on her shoulder.

"Don't leave this time, Mom, okay? Because I don't think I could live another day if—if—"

"Shh. Rach, it's okay, baby. I'm not going anywhere. I promise. You never have to try to live without me in your life, okay?" she hugged her daughter, who was so precious to her, closer. "I'm here to stay, Rachel. I'm here."

"Okay," Rach said softly. Her tears fell on Shelby's shoulder.

"No tears, okay?" Shelby said.

Rachel pulled out of the hug and smiled. "I just, I've gotten so used to you being around and I love you so much and I can't lose you again. I can't."

_Again._ Shelby felt awful for the word.

"I love you too, Rachel." She said. "I'm not leaving you ever again."

And Rachel trusted her enough to believe her.


	11. Professional

**2 guests prompted: Shelby scolding Rachel for missing a show to go to an audition.**

**Thank you so much for this prompt. I really wish a moment like this had happened in the show. Everyone was so casual about this and it really bothered me that no one else freaked out that Rachel was ruining her entire Broadway dream just to do a show in L.A. What the hell is she thinking?!**

**Clearly, she isn't.**

**In any case, this was the last thing I accomplished this weekend (as well as a few oneshots for my Singer, Dancer, Little Star series, because I did have somethings to do this weekend) but i will continue to work sporadically throughout days and I will continue to take prompts as you have them!**

**I love you all!**

**With love always, hayleynymphadora**

* * *

**Professional**

"Excuse me, you did what?!" Shelby demanded of her firstborn. She was standing in Rachel's kitchen, leaning against the dining table. Beth walked was sitting in the living room, coloring. She looked up at her mother's raised voice then went back to what she was doing.

"It was an amazing opportunity, mom, I don't understand what the big deal is." Rachel shrugged and kept her eyes down, staring at the iced tea bottle she was opening. She knew Shelby was going to freak about this; that's why she had waited to tell her until now.

Shelby raised her eyebrows and widened her eyes at Rachel. What the hell was going on with her? What was she doing, being so risky with the career she had worked her whole life to get?!

"Rachel, you can't be serious." Shelby put her hands on her hips in that "I'm Shelby Corcoran and you'd better listen to me" way that she did. At this point, Rachel recognized the many gestures and expressions that he mother often made. "Do you understand how reckless of a move that was?!"

"I wasn't fired, I'm still in the show, and—" Rachel tried to defend herself.

Shelby shook her head and cut her off. "That's not the point. You're damn lucky he _didn't_ fire you, Rachel. If you weren't so talented—"

"But I am!"

"That does NOT give you the right to act so…unprofessional! What has gotten into you?!" Shelby couldn't believe this. Rachel did not work so hard to get into NYADA and the revival of Funny Girl just to blow it off for a stupid L.A TV show audition.

"This could be my big break, mom!"

"FUNNY GIRL was your big break!" Shelby reminded her. "You're destined for the stage, wasn't that always your dream?"

Rachel bit at her lip. She expected a scolding but not like this. Wasn't Shelby going to support her, even a little bit? "Maybe the dream's changed," she mumbled.

Shaking her head and crossing her arms over her chest, Shelby let out a sigh. Rachel was so young—did she even know what she wanted anymore?

"That's not the Rachel Berry that I know."

Rachel almost growled at her mother—almost. The audition hadn't even been _good_, but mentioning that would just help prove Shelby's point. Instead, Rachel just got super defensive.

"Well you've known Rachel Berry for about 2 months, so do you really have room to chastise me?"

The second she said it, she regretted it. She saw the immediate flash of pain in Shelby's eyes (which she had tried to cover, but the damage had already been done) and Shelby's expression turned hard—her walls were going up.

"Mom, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean—"

"I know," Shelby said softly, calming herself.

"I know, I was overstepping my boundaries. Hell, I probably deserved that."

Rach gave her mother an apologetic look. "No, you didn't…"

"I just…I don't want you to make my mistakes, Rachel. It doesn't take much to mess up a Broadway career—look at Cassie! I don't want you to just throw away everything you worked so hard to get."

Rachel nodded. "I know, you're just being a mom. I'm sorry I snapped at you."

"I'm sorry, too." Shelby uncrossed her arms. "I hope you end up getting what you want—whatever you decide that is."

"Thank you," Rachel practically whispered before taking a step closer to her mom. "I'm going to hug you now."

Shelby laughed and shook her head and hugged her crazy indecisive daughter. She hoped that for Rachel's sake, whatever decisions she decided to make were the right ones.

That's all she could do, was hope.


	12. Young and Foolish

**Guest prompt: okay maybe this could take place when Rachel thought she was pregnant briefly and talks to Shelby about it and kinda breaks down?**

**Bookworm0485: Shelby's reaction to the pregnancy scare and how she helps Rachel through it.**

**Thank you all so very much for all of these amazing prompts! I'm having a blast working on all of them. I just ask that you all be patient with me, if that's possible- it is summer and I don't ALWAYS have to time to write, plus, i'm still gladly taking prompts as you think of them but recognize that that means between all of the prompts for this story and my Singer Dancer Little Star series, my writing schedule is like BOOKED. **

**xD So if you'll have patience and understanding with me, I promise to work on all of the prompts and get them all done as I can get to them.**

**I love you all and thank you so much!**

**Love always, hayleynymphadora**

* * *

**Young and Foolish**

Shelby met Rachel for lunch one Saturday when Cass insisted on taking Beth to the park for the day. That was fun Aunt Cassie for you. In any case, now that they were in the same state and city, Shelby and Rachel could spend a bit more time together. Get to know each other just a little more.

Rach walked into the restaurant and sat down in front of Shelby five minutes after the two said they would meet. She ordered an iced tea with lemon.

"Hey, Rachel," Shelby smiled to greet her. Rachel didn't smile back. Instead she glanced up at her birth mother, nervously. She looked about ready to cry and Shelby raised a concerned eyebrow. "Are...you alright, sweetie?" she wondered.

"I'm late," she replied, her eyes wide.

Confused, Shelby laughed lightly. Why was she so concerned that she was late by 5 minutes? "You're fine, Rachel, really. 5 minutes is nothing-"

"I'm LATE." Rachel over pronounced the second word. "I called you to lunch because I really need to talk to you. I'm scared because Brody and I have been-and I'm late-Mom, I'm too young to-I don't know what to-what do I-"

"Woah, woah, woah, Rachel, honey, calm down." Shelby widened her eyes. When Rachel had asked her to lunch, she'd had no idea that anything was wrong. The waitress came and set Rachel's tea down in front of her and Rachel sipped at it in a panic.

"How late?" Shelby asked after they ordered. If it was only by a few days then maybe it was just school stress or something close.

"Three weeks." Rachel nearly whispered.

_Three weeks_. Shelby looked into Rachel's eyes and didn't think she had ever seen her daughter so scared. She knew Rachel really needed her. Shelby took a deep breath and cleared her throat. It was time to be a mom...and hope that Rachel wouldn't have to.

"Three weeks doesn't necessarily make you pregnant." she reasoned. "Have you had any other symptoms?"

"I was sick yesterday morning." Rachel shot back immediately.

Slowly, Shelby nodded her head, taking in information. She decided she had to start asking the uncomfortable questions. That's something moms do, right?

"Are you and Brody... being safe?"

With a blush, Rachel looked down at the salad she had hardly touched. "There was this once, about a month ago...we just got so caught up in the moment, and-"

"Oh, Rachel," Shelby put her head down into her hands. She was too young for grandchildren. Rachel was too young to be a mom. Shelby realized that coming from her that might seem a bit hypocritical, but the situations were completely different. "Well, have you taken a pregnancy test?"

"It said yes," Rachel's eyes were wide and she said it like someone would announce a death sentence.

Shelby had so much sympathy for her daughter-even if she had been completely foolish and irresponsible-along with a slight twinge of guilt. She couldn't help but wonder-maybe if she had raised Rachel, they wouldn't be in this situation now.

"Did you take more than one? Maybe it was a false positive-those can happen...sweetheart," Shelby said, gentle but stern. "This isn't something you can run and hide from. You made a very grown up decision and now you have to deal with the consequences like an adult. If you really are pregnant, you need to start treating your body like you are. This is very serious. Do you want me to take you to the clinic so you can be sure?"

Rachel shook her head quickly. "No, thank you, but Santana already swears she's going to...I just...this was something I needed to talk to my mom about, you know?"

"I'm glad you decided to talk to me," Shelby said genuinely. It felt like a huge honor, really, that Rachel had bothered to tell her at all, after all the years Shelby hadn't been there for her daughter. She really hoped for everyone's sake that this wasn't happening. She didn't want Rachel's dreams lost because of one night she'd had with Brody. Which led Shelby to another point entirely.

"What the hell were you thinking, having unsafe sex with Brody? How long have you been with him? How well do you even know him?" her mama bear instincts started kicking in. She knew that if Rachel really was pregnant, all of these questions were sort of late but better late than never...right?

"I don't know!" Rachel jumped at the sudden change of direction of the conversation. "I wasn't thinking. I know it was a bad idea..."

"That's an understatement." Shelby agreed.

"I don't know what to do." Rachel sighed.

Shelby sighed, too. Rachel was too young to be having this conversation with her. But she needed her mother's advice.

"Well the first thing you need to do is take a deep breath and calm down. If this is really happening, the extra stress isn't good for you or the baby."

"It's really weird to hear you say that," Rachel shivered.

Shelby nodded. "It's really weird to say it," and terrifying.

"Thank you," Rachel blurted suddenly. "For listening and-helping me. I know we're not very close, but-"

"You're welcome, Rachel. I'll always be here if you need my help."

For the first time that day, Shelby saw Rachel smile.

. . .

For days, the two didn't speak. Rachel never called and Shelby didn't want to seem too pouncy about the subject. Rachel would talk to her when she was ready.

Shelby's cell rang. She guessed Rachel was ready sooner than later. She answered, hesitant. She wasn't sure she was ready to know if this was true or not, but at the same time, the suspense was killing her.

She dry swallowed. "Rachel?"

"It was a false alarm," Rachel rushed her words together, her voice jubilant. "I'm not pregnant."

"Oh thank god," Shelby put her hand over her heart.

"I know," Rachel said. "I know...thank you so much, Shelby. For everything."

Shelby smiled. "You're welcome, Rachel. But I really didn't do anything."

"Are you kidding? Talking to me and calming me down meant the world to me. Anyways, I'm going to be late to class, I have to go. Thank you again."

"Do well in class, okay? You're welcome."

"Bye, Shelby."

"Goodbye, Rachel."

Shelby couldn't be more thankful.


	13. Gone, Pt2

**Guest Prompt: (In reference to Gone) Can you write more on this? Like the morning after this? Please?**

**Thank you for the prompt! I really wasn't sure where to go with this, so sorry it's kinda short.**

**with love always, hayleynymphadora**

* * *

**Gone, pt.2**

Rachel and I fell asleep on my couch, talking and crying like the mother and daughter we never used to be but somehow are tonight. I'm not sure things have actually changed between us, besides the fact that she needed my help and comfort for a night and I was luckily able to give it to her. I wake up, slowly, finding her still lying across me, fast asleep. Slowly, so I don't wake her, I reach over and grab my phone to check the time. I rub my eyes. It's 9 in the morning. Doesn't she have classes to go to?

No, luckily, I remember it's Sunday.

I realize I failed in my attempt to not wake her from her slumber, for she shifts and sits up and then seems to remember where she is.

"Oh my god, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to just invite myself over and stay the night, that wasn't a very cool thing to do…" she messes with her braid which is very bed-head and I shake my head.

"I told you you could come over, you needed me, don't apologize for anything, Rach, it's fine."

Rachel doesn't seem to believe me at first, but my sincere look seems to have swayed her. "Okay…Thank you."

"Of course. Besides, you're not the only one who fell asleep," I smile at her knowingly and get a small half smile in return. I wasn't expecting her mega-watt grin. Not this moment, anyways. Not in this situation.

After a moment of silence, I decide I need to go check on Beth. "I'll be right back? I need to go see what Beth's doing…"

Rachel nods softly. "Sure."

I go in and check on Beth. She's awake and coloring in her coloring book. That seems to be a favorite pass time of hers. Who knows; maybe she'll grow up to be an artist. She's pretty good with color, for a toddler. And she's strangely good about mostly staying inside the lines. Sounds like an artist to me. In any case, she's awake and I need to feed her something.

"Hey baby girl," I say to her from her doorway. She looks up at me and smiles, holding up the picture she's been coloring. It's a flower.

"Flower, mama!"

"Uh huh," I smile. "Do you want breakfast?"

Beth nods and walks over to me, pulling on my shirt. I pick her up and carry her out into the kitchen to find Rachel sitting at the table, staring at her hands in silence.

"You okay, Rach?" I ask, putting Beth down and walking over to the fridge to find some sort of food to eat.

"Yeah," she says softly. "Just thinking."

"Don't think too hard, okay?" I tell her. "You don't want to get all caught up in your head. Does that make sense? Just take a deep breath and try to relax…Do you want breakfast?"

I turn to look at her and she shakes her head. "I'm not really hungry," she says.

Beth notices that Rachel is sad and pouts. "Don't be sad!" she says, trying to help. This at least gets Rachel to laugh, lightly.

"Okay, Beth, I promise you I will try my hardest not to be sad."

I give her an apologetic half smile. "I really think you should try to eat something," I say. I don't want to push anything, but starving herself isn't going to bring Finn back. She seems to have caught on to my message without me having to say it to her.

"Okay." She nods in agreement. I'm glad she's making an effort.

Finding some strawberries and kiwi and pineapple and mandarin oranges, I ask Rach if she likes all of those fruits before making us all a sort of fruit salad for breakfast. Beth makes a mess out of hers that I'll end up cleaning in a little bit. Rachel picks at hers and eats little bites here and there and I take a moment to look at the situation I'm in.

I have both of my daughters in the same place. One of them is mourning the death of her ex-boyfriend and the other is the next Picasso. I'm really not sure how my life has gotten to this point…

Finally, Rachel starts to actually eat her fruit. I can tell she's pretty hungry. She takes a bite of pineapple and looks up at me with a small smile.

"You didn't have to do all of this."

I'm confused. What have I actually done? I mean I've tried to help her but I wasn't very sure I was doing all that great of a job. "All of what, Rachel?"

"Talking to me, feeding me, letting me stay over, all of it. You didn't even have to answer the phone."

"You're my daughter, of course I had to answer the phone."

Rachel scrunches her eyebrows, confused. "But I thought you were my mother not my mom?"

I give her a small smile in return. "Well maybe we can change that, okay? Would that be something you'd be willing to work on?"

My heart pounds as I wait for her answer. A moment later she nods. "Yeah," she smiles. "Yeah, I think I'd really like that."


	14. A Mother and a Mom Pt 3

**Guest: Rachel staying over at Shelby's after Mother and a Mom Pt.2**

**Guest: Mother/daughter sleepover at Shelby's.**

**CuriousStar: Rachel tells Shelby that Quinn used to be a bully but has made up for it and been forgiven.**

**I had a lot of fun with this one, writing it last night. It is obviously very Shelby/Rachel but also, for the very first time, features a lot of Beth. Tell me what you think!**

**I tried to kill 3 birds with one stone with this one, but if I didn't fulfill your prompt wishes, just let me know and I'll see what else I can come up with, okay?**

**Let me know about other prompts!**

**With love always, hayleynymphadora**

* * *

**Mother and a Mom Pt.3**

Shelby looked at Rachel and smiled. "Will you-" she cut herself off and shook her head. She didn't want to push things too soon-she didn't want to make Rachel feel awkward or uncomfortable. Besides, actually thinking about what she had almost asked made the idea seem childish.

But Rachel wasn't going to let her get away so easily. "Will I what?" she wondered.

Pressing her lips together, Shelby asked, feeling foolish, "Do you want to come have a sleepover at my house tonight? I-I mean, Beth's been wanting you to forever..."

"Just Beth?"

"No," Shelby admitted. She had never been able to truly have a sleepover with Rachel. Never tucked her in at night or told her bedtime stories. And even though she was an adult now, it didn't mean they couldn't have some sort of slumber party thing, right? They hadn't been able to do fun things when Rachel was younger, because she wasn't allowed to know Rachel then. Couldn't she at least try to make up for it now? "I think it would be really fun." she said.

Rachel gave her a smile. "Well since Beth wants me to..." she teased, making Shelby laugh.

"I'm kidding, Mom. Of course I will. I think it sounds like fun, too."

Hearing the word "Mom" come out of Rachel's mouth made Shelby the happiest woman alive. She couldn't believe the chance that Rachel was giving her. Sure, it was just a sleepover. But it was so much more. It was one of the first steps (next to the giant step of calling her Mom), to a huge second chance. It was the second chance Shelby never imagined she'd get and one she certainly knew she didn't deserve, but Rachel was so eagerly giving it to her.

She couldn't be happier.

. . .

"Rachie!" Beth ran up to Rachel and grabbed her legs excitedly. "Having a sleepover?"

Rachel grinned down at her. "Yep." she gave the young little blonde a greeting hug. "Is that okay?" she asked of her mother's youngest daughter. She didn't want Beth to feel awkward about anything, either. Beth's feelings mattered, too.

"Yeah!" Beth cheered. "Come! Mommy made popcorn!"

"Oh?" Rachel beamed at Beth's excitement, happy that she was willing to share her Mommy. Beth took Rachel's hand and led her out to the living room where Shelby sat on the floor, amongst a huge pile of blankets and pillows. A big bowl of popcorn sat on the table next to her and she grinned when she saw her daughters, BOTH of them, walking hand-in-hand towards her.

She noticed that Rachel had changed into a pair of pajama pants (black with gold stars) and a long sleeved black shirt. For one of the first times, Shelby noted that Rachel actually looked really comfortable being near her-excited to be spending time with her for real.

"Hey, Rach," Shelby smiled at her.

"Hey, Mom," Shelby would never tire of hearing that. Rachel set her backpack down onto the blankets and sat down, cross legged in front of Shelby. Beth sat next to her and cocked her head in confusion.

"Mommy's your mom too?" she asked.

Wide eyed, Rachel exchanged a glance with Shelby and realized her mistake. Of course, Shelby had probably not told Beth that Rachel was her daughter. How confusing would that have been to a three-year-old? She smacked herself mentally. Maybe this new "calling Shelby Mom" thing would have a downside after all.

However, Shelby gave Rachel an approving grin and nodded, silently telling her that she had permission to keep going. "I should have told her a long time ago." Shelby admitted.

"That's right, Beth," Rachel turned and looked at the young, energetic little blonde who looked so much like Quinn and Puck. "Mommy had me almost 20 years ago, and now you're her daughter to, as of almost 4 years ago." she was careful with her wording-she definitely was not about to explain adoption to this little girl. That was a conversation that Shelby and only Shelby could have with her, when the time came. "And do you know what that makes us?" Rachel beamed at Beth with that mega-watt grin of hers and picked Beth up, setting her in her lap and kissing her cheek. "Sisters." she told her, tickling her sides lightly.

"Rachieeee," Beth giggled, trying to move out of Rachel's grasp. Rachel stopped tickling her so she could breathe and Beth said,

"Sisters?"

"Uh huh," Rachel smiled proudly. Shelby watched her daughters interact, playing with her hands a bit nervously. She was shocked and pleased and terrified all at once about how well the two of them were getting along. After everything they had all been through and all of this complicated history, this just seemed too easy; too good to be true. But it felt so great.

Beth thought for a minute about this concept of having an older sister. Finally, she asked, "Like Anna and Elsa?"

Shelby and Rachel both let out a laugh at her imagination. "Yes," Rach told her. "Just like Anna and Elsa. Except I promise I won't freeze your heart or anything."

"Okay!" Beth was excited now.

Pulling her hair up into a pony tail, Shelby smiled and explained, "She LOVES Frozen."

Rachel played with her braid as she answered, still holding Beth in her lap, "Well her Mommy voiced the Ice Queen. She's proud of you." Beth reached out for the popcorn and Rachel got a handful for her and put it into one of the littler bowls on the table next to it. "I am, too." Rachel let her know. "I love Frozen."

This made Shelby blush, slightly. After being a show choir coach for so long, she was no longer used to people praising her voice, least of all her firstborn. "Thank you."

It dawned on her that Rachel was staying the night at her house. She was praising Shelby's work and playing with her little sister. Shelby was forever thankful that Rachel didn't hate her anymore, even if she did deserve it. She ate some popcorn and watched as Beth interacted with Rachel.

"Will you sing?" Beth asked, out of the blue. "Mommy says you sing good."

"Rachel is an amazing singer," Shelby commended.

Grinning and feeling like the luckiest daughter alive for such a high praise from the nationally known coach Shelby Corcoran, who also happened to be her mother.

"What do you want me to sing?" Rachel asked.

Beth reached out and touched Rachel's side braid. "You have Elsa's braid. Sing Let it Go?"

"Oh, but that's Mommy's song, Bethie," Rachel pushed a piece of hair out of her eyes.

Shaking her head, Shelby said, "You can sing it, if you want to, Rachel. But you don't have to sing just because Beth asked you to," she let her know.

"I'll sing," Rachel smiled. "What are sisters for?"

Sisters. Earlier in the day, Rachel had called Shelby Mom for the first time and now she was happily calling Beth her sister. Shelby's heart melted at it. Maybe this would finally work after all.

"Wait!" Beth said excitedly. She moved off of Rachel's lap and ran towards her bedroom.

"Beth, please don't run in the house!" Shelby called after her. When the little girl returned, she was holding a tiara she had won at a pageant she'd been in. She put it on Rachel's head and said,

"There. Queen Elsa. Now sing?"

Rachel laughed and began,

_"The snow glows white on the mountain tonight, not a footprint to be seen. A kingdom of isolation, and it looks like I'm the Queen. The wind is howling like this swirling storm inside, couldn't keep it in, heaven knows I tried."_

Shelby watched her daughter in awe. She had heard Rachel sing and watched her perform multiple times before, but was always completely amazed by her talent. She felt honored, as well, that Rachel had listened to Let it Go enough times to know the lyrics and be able to sing the notes so beautifully-flawlessly-better than Shelby did, she thought. Rachel had listened to her mother's song enough times to know it by heart.

_"Don't let them in, don't let them see. Be the good girl you've always had to be. Conceal, don't feel, don't let them know. Well now they know."_ Rachel smiled and looked at her family.

That's what Shelby and Beth were-her family.

_"Let it go, let it go, can't hold it back anymore. Let it go, let it go, turn away and slam the door. I don't care what they're going to say. Let the storm rage on-the cold never bothered me anyway."_

. . .

Rachel had sung beautifully and when the song was done, Shelby had tears in her eyes. Her first born had gotten so big so fast. She had grown up into this gorgeous, independent woman who was great with kids and had an amazing talent and she couldn't have been more proud of her.

After Shelby had put Beth to bed, Shelby and Rachel finished the popcorn and sat in their pillow/blanket fort, talking and laughing for hours about topics ranging from school to Broadway to dreams to old friends.

"She looks so much like her," Rachel said after a short moment of silence. Shelby raised her eyebrows and waited for Rachel to elaborate, taking a drink of the strawberry smoothie they had made earlier in the night. "Like Quinn. Beth looks so much like Quinn."

"Oh," Shelby said, putting her smoothie back on the table. "Yes, she does, doesn't she? I suppose in a few years I'll have to explain to her why she has curly blonde hair and mine is straight and brunette."

"That won't change how she feels about you," Rachel said matter-of-factly. "You're her mom, not Quinn."

"Yeah," Shelby said softly before asking, "Were you two close?"

Rach took a sip of her smoothie, too. She had long ago taken the tiara off and undid her braid. She ran her fingers though her hair as she said, "Who, me and Quinn?" she laughed lightly. "Close probably isn't the right word to describe our friendship."

Shelby winced. "Should I not have asked?" she started to regret doing so.

"I mean, she used to bully me. Mercilessly. She's write mean things about me on bathroom walls and on my Myspace page she would tell me how worthless and pathetic I am...then again so did Santana..." But Santana was another story. "Quinn used to try to take Finn away from me. It was a constant battle that she usually won. She called me man hands and a little girl and would dangle him in my face."

"That's horrible."

"Eventually though, we became friends." She smiled. "She apologized and I forgave her. We were a part of the same family, after all."

"Now even more so," Shelby pointed out.

"Yeah, you're right." Rachel hadn't really thought about that. "Does Beth know Quinn at all?"

"She's seen her a few times," Shelby cleared her throat. "We send her pictures every few weeks."

Rachel swallowed and decided to ask the question that had been eating at her. No one should have to live without their biological mother. Not when it made life so much better to know her.

"Will she ever know Quinn?"

It took Shelby a minute to think of an answer. "If and when she wants to, yes. I'm not going to force it on her but I'm not going to keep it from her, either."

Rachel nodded and grinned. She thought it was the perfect answer.

. . .

They had fallen asleep around 2 a.m and woke up at 9 to see Beth in their faces, shaking them awake.

"Sleep well?" she wondered.

Rachel took a second to adjust her eyes and stretch before answering, "Yes, I did. Did you?" she asked Shelby.

"Uh huh," Shelby rubbed her eyes and stretched her back. "So...breakfast?" she asked Beth. "Is that why you woke us up?"

The little blonde nodded quickly and Rachel and Shelby laughed and they felt like the family Rachel had always dreamed of having.

It felt like everything was finally working out.


	15. Ruined Dreams

**Bookworm0485: Shelby's reaction to Rachel quitting NYADA.**

**Guest: Rachel and Shelby have their real fight mother/daughter fight-they're upset and scared and overreact and panic.**

**Guest: something angsty**

**Thanks so much you guys! Sorry i've been really busy with a summer job and what not, but i promise i am getting this written! I love you all!**

**Love always, Hayley**

* * *

**Ruined Dreams**

"Rachel, were you not even there for the conversation we had about missing half of that show?! What the hell are you doing QUITTING NYADA?! NYADA was your DREAM, Rachel. You worked SO HARD to get into this school and now you're just throwing it all away for what?! For a TV show that may or may not be successful, in LA, no less, not even the city you've always dreamed of. You're LIVING the dream, Rachel, what has gotten into you?!" Shelby shook her head, not understanding her daughter's logic. She had worked so very hard to get where she was now.

"Aren't you the one who told me I'll never be a star or get the lead by playing it safe?!" Rachel countered, throwing her arms up in the air.

"You HAVE the lead! You ARE a star!"

"Maybe it's time for something different-"

"You've only just begun, Rachel I just don't understand what you're-"

"Exactly! You don't understand and that's fine, whatever, because it's not your life, Mom! I'm doing this with or without your support but it'd be really great if you were behind the idea even a little bit!"

With a sigh, Shelby crossed her arms. Rachel was sort of right. But she couldn't help but think that Rachel had made a HORRIBLE decision by dropping out of NYADA. That school was so good for her and she still had so much to learn, and now that she dropped out, Carmen would definitely never let her back in. She had no more chance. Her decision had been made, and she was obviously not getting anywhere with Rachel by chastising her about it, because at this point there was nothing else Rachel could do but take the show in LA. She had nowhere else to go now. Broadway was all over.

Rachel hadn't told her mother that she had actually dropped out of NYADA long before she got the show in LA. Mainly because she knew her mom would flip and go all. "You're not ready to leave that school, it can teach you so much," and basically everything she was saying now but a bit worse. At least now she would lecture her on everything at once and they could get on with their lives.

Did she dare tell Shelby that she wasn't JUST NOW dropping out of NYADA? She snuck a glance at Kurt who nodded his head. "Go for it."

Might as well, now.

"Mom? I sort of dropped out of school a long time ago. The show was so successful and I just couldn't juggle both anymore."

Shelby widened disbelieving eyes. "Well what else have you kept from me, Rachel?! Do you have any tattoos or piercings you haven't told me about?"

Rachel bit her lip, guiltily. She hadn't LIKED keeping it from her mother, but things had gotten so busy and hectic that she never found the right time to say, "Hey, I quit college to be a star."

"I'm sorry," Rachel said, and looked up at her mom, upset. Her eyes filled with tears. Shelby could tell that she was truly apologizing-that she really felt bad for not saying anything earlier. But that didn't make it automatically okay.

"I thought we were closer than that, Rachel," Shelby sighed, looking sadly at her daughter who she had thought she had made so much progress with knowing. Apparently she had been wrong.

"We ARE, I wanted to tell you! I just knew that you'd be upset and I didn't want to upset you anymore because, I...I don't like when you're upset with me."

"I would've been less upset than I am now, Rachel," Shelby said softly, grabbing her keys and her coat and heading for the door. "I'll talk to you later."

_SHIT_. Rachel threw her head into her hands. _She hates me, she's never going to talk to me again. I've ruined everything. She's going to go away. She's going to leave me again. We were so close and now we're going to be nothing. Damn it, Rachel!_

Shelby let a hurt tear fall down her cheek as she took a taxi home. _What was going on in that little head of Rachel's?_ She sighed, and took a deep breath. One thing Shelby Corcoran did not tolerate was dishonesty. She couldn't stand it, she had a hard enough time with trust as it was and dishonesty made things harder to deal with.

_She didn't lie, she just didn't tell you._

_Same thing._

She took another deep breath, realizing Rachel was probably freaking out. They had never really fought before, and she had just angrily walked out of Rachel's apartment.

_She probably thinks i'm going to abandon her,_ Shelby sighed. _But I could never do that. She's my daughter. I love her too much. She made a few mistakes that upset me, but she needs me now more than ever and I'm not going to leave her. Maybe I should call her..._ she got her phone out.

Rachel's cell phone sat on the counter, ringing, but neither she nor Kurt heard it. Kurt rubbed her shoulders as she cried, almost to the point of hyperventilating, "She's-she's going to give up on me again. She's going to leave, i've screwed it all up."

"You didn't screw up, she just got upset, Rach," Kurt said softly. "She's going to come back, you just have to give her some time to calm down, okay? That was a lot of news for someone to take in all at once."

Rachel sniffed. Maybe Kurt was right. Maybe everyone was overreacting just a little bit. Maybe Shelby was just upset and she would come back later on?

_But she was never there before_, Rachel started to panic again. _She wasn't there and who's to say she's going to stay now?! I mean, she left. She gave me away for money. She left me with my Dads, who loved me and never noticed me. Now i've gone and upset her and SHE gets to walk away again?!_

Shelby sighed and tried to call Rachel for a third time. She was finally back at her own apartment and regretting ever leaving. Maybe Rachel was mad at her now. _She has reason to be,_ Shelby sighed. _I did leave her for 18 years. She put her head in her hands. I've really gotten into it now._

Finally, Rachel sniffed and looked up, noticing her phone going off. She dove for it. It was Shelby.

She answered, "Mom! Mommy I'm so sorry! I promise i'll never lie to you ever again. I'll be your model daughter, i'll be everything you've always wanted please PLEASE don't leave me! Please!"

"Rachel, sweetheart, please calm down you're going to make yourself sick. I'm not going to leave you. You messed up but it's okay. I'm not mad anymore. It's okay. I love you so much and i'm not going anywhere, okay? Please breathe, Rachel. Everything's going to be okay. I promise."

Rachel took a deep breath like her mom told her to and said, "Okay. You...you promise you're not mad?"

Shelby sighed. _It was one mistake. Give her another chance. She deserves it and you need to give it to her._

"Yes, baby, I promise i'm not mad. I love you. I'm not leaving you again. Ever."

"I love you too, Mom. Thank god."

"And I support you," Shelby swallowed. "I support you and your new dream. I'll be with you every step of the way."

As long as Rachel was happy. Rachel beamed on the other end of the call. "Really?!"

"Really," Shelby smiled softly.

Rachel couldn't be more relieved that everything was going to be okay.


	16. Shopping

**Guest: Mother/Daughter shopping trip.**

**A/N: I haven't given up on this, or any of my stories, I promise. I don't give up on stories, it's just that it's summer and I get too busy to write sometimes, or I want to write but have writers block for particular things or am not in the mood to write. Please just have a little patience with me, and I promise to never give up on this, or anything else i'm writing, okay? Right now i'm downstate doing family things and I wasn't sure if i'd ever get to a computer. This might be a one time thing for the week so bare with me please? I love you all! And I know some of you were against Cassie and Shelby pairing but they're my OTP and I absolutely could not resist. Sorry! Hope you like it anyways! xo Oh, and if the format of this was weird I apologize, i'm on a foreign-to-me computer and couldn't figure some things out...with love always, Hayley**

* * *

**Shopping**

"What about this?" Rachel held it up in front of Shelby. Shelby cocked her head to the side. It was her color...  
"I don't know, Rachel. What's the price look like?" she scrunched her nose. This was her first shopping trip with Rachel and she was loving the bonding time (truly, she was hoping Rachel was loving it as much as she was, and it looked like she was).  
She loved shopping at this little city boutique but everything in New York was always just so expensive!  
Rachel pursed her lips and flaunted the deep purple blazer about in front of her, posing behind it all professionally. "50 whole dollars worth of adorable." she answered.  
Shelby laughed lightly at Rachel's attempt to get her to buy the blazer. It was very tempting. But $50? She raised a teasing condescending eyebrow. "Would you buy $50 dollars worth of adorable?" she questioned.  
Pondering, Rachel answered, "I would if it was my color and a needed a new blazer; and it's YOUR color and you DO need a blazer. I think you should get it."  
"Oh do you?" Shelby laughed. Rachel seemed to think that Shelby should buy everything that was her color. "I'm starting to get the impression you don't like my wardrobe, Rachel," she was only half joking.  
With a shrug, Rachel said, "It's a little plain. Besides, New York means makeovers, right?"  
"I think you've been hanging out at Vogue with Kurt a little too often," Shelby laughed and took the blazer out of Rachel's hands, posing in front of the mirror with it to test it out. She cocked her head to the side.  
"You really think it's my color?"  
"Purple is definitely your color, Mom."  
Shelby smiled. She loved when Rachel called her Mom. They were finally starting to feel like a real family unit. It was a marvelous feeling. "What have you actually bought today?" Shelby demanded to know. They'd been to 4 different stores and Rachel had somehow convinced Shelby to buy something at every single store. Each thing more and more expensive but more and more "her style". Though Shelby couldn't help but wonder-if Rachel was trying to get her to have a makeover, shouldn't she be going for things that WEREN'T her style?  
"I bought that scarf!" Rachel defended. "AND those shoes!"  
Shelby laughed, "Okay, okay! So you bought the scarf and the shoes..."  
Rachel took the blazer out of her mother's hands and said in a very small voice, "Come on, Shelby. Buy me! You know you want tooooo! Maybe you could even wear it and impress Cassieee!"  
Shelby dropped her jaw. "What makes you think I want to impress Cassie?!" she demanded to know, her cheeks reddening slightly.  
"I've seen the way you look at her," Rachel teased. "Just admit it already."  
Putting her hand over her heart, Shelby said, "I will admit no such thing. I don't know what you're talking about, Rachel. Cassandra is my best friend."  
"Mmmhmmm," Rachel's tone was suggestive. "Your best friend that you totally want to-"  
"O-kay, let's get to buying that blazer!" Shelby quickly took the clothing article out of her daughter's hands and rushed up to the counter to pay. Rachel smirked. She'd get her mother to talk eventually.  
"Is that what this whole new wardrobe thing is about?" Shelby accused. "You think I need to dress better to impress Cassandra July? I don't need to impress Cassandra July."  
"You so do," Rachel scoffed, standing next to Shelby while she paid and took her bag. They walked out of the store and Rachel continued, "Cassandra July is a hard woman to impress."  
"Why do you possibly think I-"  
"Because you do. You want her, Mom. I'm into Broadway and theatre and as good of an actress as you are, I can see that cliche look in your eyes. And in hers too, just so you know." They headed into another store and Rachel started towards the dresses.  
The dresses that were Shelby's size. Shelby rolled her eyes.  
"Cassandra doesn't want me and I don't want her. We're best friends-nothing's going on besides that. Besides, i'm not even into..." she trailed off. Did she really want to keep lying to Rachel? She kept quiet and Rachel pressed her lips together.  
"You can't say it because it isn't true. Are you gay, Mom?"  
Shelby dry swallowed. "I don't know." it was a truthful answer.  
"Do you have a thing for Cassie?"  
"Can we do this interrogation later?" Shelby begged, almost at a whine.  
"I'll get it out of you eventually."  
"I know you will. But until then, can we drown in clothing?"  
"Ah, clothing therapy," Rachel sighed happily, looking at a lace dress and moving past it. "Kurt and Santana say it's the best kind of therapy and I'm starting to agree."  
"Mmm. Do you agree with a lot of things Santana says these days?" Shelby accused, sifting through some jackets. This time it was Rachel's turn to have a red face.  
"What's that supposed to mean?"  
"I stare at Cassie about as much as you stare at Santana."  
"Are you admitting something?" Rachel turned and looked at her mom with wide eyes.  
Shelby squinted her eyes. "Are you?" and suddenly both women were trapped in the conversation. Mother and daughter stared at each other and in a small moment of silence Shelby found a dress she really liked. She imagined Cassie in it. She scolded herself. She put it back.  
Rachel eyed her mother, carefully. "Are we going to talk about this?" she wondered.  
Shelby looked at another dress and held it out in front of her. Rachel shook her head and Shelby put it back. "Do you want to?"  
"I don't know." Rachel admitted.  
Pressing her lips together, Shelby said, "Maybe we just shop first?"  
"Shopping." Rachel nodded. "Shopping is good."  
Shelby bought another dress (Rachel referred to it as a sexy date dress, to which Shelby had blushed and shook her head) and Rachel bought two dresses and a belt.  
By the end of the day, Shelby had spent way more money than she had wanted to and both girls were exhausted. They went back to Shelby's apartment, ordered out, and slowly sipped on champagne while they talked. Shelby didn't mind Rachel drinking a bit of champagne, since she was staying the night and it was only one glass.  
Finally, it was late, and time for one of those last night heart to hearts where all of the secrets came spilling out.  
"When did you start liking Cassandra?" Rachel asked, crossing her legs on the couch. Shelby pulled her legs up to her chest.  
"When did you start liking Santana?" she asked back, defensively.  
Rachel sighed. "Mom, come on. Are we ever going to really open up to each other? Is it really a mother-daughter relationship if we never talk about serious things?"  
Shelby sighed back. She knew Rachel was right.  
"I don't know when this liking for Cassandra thing became a reality. I'm not sure if it IS a reality...Shit, Rachel I don't know. I don't know myself anymore."  
Rachel looked at her mother with sympathetic eyes. "I've always liked Santana," she mumbled. "Since sophomore year at McKinley."  
With a small smirk, Shelby nodded. "I know. I noticed when I was teaching that there was something between you two."  
Rachel shook her head furiously. "Nothing between us, just a crush that's never been acted upon-"  
Shelby watched her daughter, so oblivious. "Rachel," she said softly with a shake of her head. "She likes you too."  
Rachel shook her head. "Well what about Cassie? She's really into you."  
"No," Shelby played with her hands then looked up at Rach. "You think?"  
"Oh yeah, she stares at you. She asks me about you sometimes too."  
This spiked Shelby's interest. "She talks to you about me?"  
"Just to see how you're doing. She feels bad that she doesn't always have time to talk to you."  
Shelby wasn't sure what to make of that. "...Oh."  
As the two women sat and talked about crushes their mother-daughter relationship blossomed. The shopping trip might've been one of the best things to happen to their relationship. It made them open up to each other more, and actually start this mother daughter bond that the two women hadn't ever had before.  
It actually felt really great to finally be a part of something special.


	17. False Hope

**To those who got upset that I started romantic pairings in this story, I am truly sorry. I'm sorry that you feel that they will take away from Shelby/Rachel time, but I did it for a few reasons. The first being that Shelby and Rachel without romantic pairings is somewhat very unrealistic. Rachel is a college freshman in New York who is finding out who she is-she's young and going to fall for people. Shelby realizes she isn't getting any younger and wants to settle down-needs a type of companionship that Rachel certainly cannot give her. Another reason being that for some of the prompts I was given, I needed romantic pairings in this story. I haven't said no to any prompts, (so far) into my writing and I don't intend to start now and on so many of them.**

**I honestly don't believe it will draw too much away from the mother/daughter though. In all reality, I believe it will bring them closer. It gives them more to talk about, and it opens doors for more situations.**

**Once again, I'm really sorry if you don't feel the same way, but in able for other things to come into play later on, this was what had to be done.**

**Love always, Hayley**

**guest: Rachel could tell Shelby about Jesse egging her. Rachel could get upset that Shelby sent Jesse after her.**

* * *

**False Hope**

Rachel and Shelby were hanging out one night at Shelby's apartment, drinking tea and talking. This happened to be a favorite pass time of theirs. The mother and daughter pair enjoyed learning new things about one another-and sometimes felt guilty for not knowing some of the things that they knew, as mother and daughter, they most likely should have already known.

Now they had gotten on the topic of the rivalry Glee Clubs-Vocal Adrenaline and the New Directions. This topic might not have been so full of tension if Rachel hadn't been the star of New Directions and Shelby been the coach of Vocal Adrenaline.

"I dated Jesse St. James for a while," Rachel reminisced.

Shelby laughed, setting her tea down. "I know," she informed her.

Rachel furrowed her eyebrows. "You do?"

Shelby nodded. "I knew almost everything that went no with my students, Rachel. Will was pretty concerned about the whole Romeo/Juliet thing that was going on. He even confronted me about it-he thought we were messing with your emotions to throw you off before competition."

"Well," Rachel thought. "Wasn't that what he was doing? I mean, he succeeded in doing so, anyways..."

With a guilty heart and a hate towards herself for what she was about to reveal (and for doing it in the first place), Shelby shook her head no. "That's not what it was supposed to be about." she told her daughter, softly.

Quizzically, Rachel cocked her head at her mother. "Supposed to be about? I was supposed to be with Jesse? I guess I don't understand...will you explain?"

Shelby dry swallowed. She knew she would have to explain this to her eventually, but she was hoping eventually wasn't a synonym to "soon" or "right freaking now". She was also really hoping it wouldn't start an argument or disagreement with Rachel. Not when they were finally starting to build up this relationship-to get so close to each other.

"Rachel, sweetheart..." She sighed. Just say it, Shelby, or you're going to make it worse. "I sent Jesse to go looking for you. That day you met, at the music store...was because I told him to go in there and befriend you. I NEVER told him to lead you on, that was something he took into his own hands. I just wanted him to get your trust, so he could give you that tape of me singing...so you would find me."

Rachel sat, completely dumbstruck, and tried to process all of this new information she was getting. Her mind was spinning with questions. "But you knew at some point that we were together, and you let him lead me on like that?"

"What else did you want me to do, Rachel? Would you really have listened to me, then, if I had told you to stay away from Jesse? You snuck around behind your own Glee Club to do it. He told me he was really starting to have feelings for you-who the hell was I, to stand in the way of the happiness between you two? You seemed right together."

"Right, until I realized he was playing me to throw me off before competition." Rachel shot back, almost viciously. Shelby knew she deserved that, but...still...

"Rachel, you can't expect me to have known he was going to do that. I know he's an actor but he seemed so genuinely in love with you. The day the two of you broke up and three days afterward he skipped rehearsals-that's something you don't do unless you're on your death bed, and it's something Jesse had NEVER done before that, EVER. Once he was sick with a 24 hour bug and he continued to dance, never faltering until after the music stopped. I knew things were real between you."

After Shelby tried to explain, Rachel scoffed. "Real." she muttered. "What's real? You know what was real? When he and all of his Vocal Adrenaline bffs egged me in the parking lot of the school. You know I'm a vegan, right?! I had nightmares about baby chickens plotting their revenge against me forever! He smashed a baby chicken on my head, Mom, and he broke my heart just like he broke the damn egg shell."

She was mad, Rachel. She was mad that she thought what she had with Jesse was real and apparently it was all just a set up. She was mad that Jesse egged her when she thought that what they had between them was really something. She was mad he screwed with her heart and her mind before a competition.

This egging thing was news to Shelby. He eyebrows rose and she dropped her jaw.

"Jesse EGGED you?!"

"Guess you didn't know EVERYTHING going on with your students," Rachel said softly.

"Well, I did say almost..." Shelby mumbled.

After a minute of soft glaring at her mother, the corners of Rachel's mouth lifted into a smile. Then that smile turned into a laugh. Whatever happened with Jesse was way in the past. None of it mattered anymore, so there was no reason to fight about it, was there? Besides, Shelby had sent Jesse after Rachel so that SHE could find Rachel-and Rachel commended her for it. It means she was really trying. That she had actually cared long before Rachel thought she did.

"I guess it doesn't matter," she sighed after laughing for a minute. "It's past over with him. I have my sights on someone else."

"Santana?" Shelby pushed, hopeful. They would be so cute together!

Rachel's eyes widened. "I thought we weren't bringing that up again? She's with Dani, I'm not gay, and no! Not Santana!" Rachel lied through her teeth and Shelby could see straight through it but she wasn't going to push too hard if Rachel wasn't ready.

"Then who?" Shelby laughed.

"You'll find out if it becomes a thing."

"Ugh you can be so difficult, daughter," Shelby smiled.

"Ugh I learned from the best, mother," Rachel smiled back.


	18. Author's Note (please read)

**Hello my lovelies.**

**This isn't a chapter, but a note from me.**

**I'm very very sorry that that chapter upset you all so much. I'll cut the romantic pairings if you wish it so badly.**

**But that also means that some of the prompts I was given cannot be written without them, so to those of you who gave me a prompt having to do with a romantic pairing, I am sorry.**

**I know, "unrealistic" wasn't the right word to use., either, and it's reallly not what I meant but I don't know how to word what I meant.**

**I also know that Rachel already knew she sent Jesse in Theatricality (I actually caught that while rewatching that episode the other night but by that point it was too late and someone had already given me the prompt and i had alredy written it and posted it, so...that's why that happened).**

**This story will continue to be Shelby/Rachel restricted, since the majority seems to want that for this.**

**I may not entirely agree, but i'm not going to be one of those selfish writers who only does what she wants, I'm going to take your opinions under consideration and write what you are asking for, since it is all of you, and you alone, who convinced me to write more after the first chapter anyways.**

**I don't have wifi right now, ours keeps messing up (i had to run over to my grandmothers and steal her wifi to check my email and reply and write this as it is) and tomorrow's my birthday so i don't know what anyone has planned for that and if i'll have time to even attempt to write anything. But i'll try to write when I can, okay?**

**Again, i didn't mean to start anything and i'm sorry my last comment did.**

**I need to focus on chosing my words more carefully next time.**

**I love you all, and I thank you for sticking it out this far and reading my story even if you didn't agree with some parts of it. I also thank you for reviewing. It really means a lot to me.**

**WIth love forever and always, Hayley**


	19. Drunk

**I'm so sorry my lovelies. I haven't been in the right mind set to work on this series but today I thought why the hell not. It's the last day of summer, after all, and I'm not sure how open my schedule will be to me writing throughout the school year (hopefully pretty open since writing keeps me sane). In any case, I promise you don't have to review and ask me not to give up. I won't give up. I don't give up on any of my stories.**

**Just take hiatus. xD **

**Anyways, here you are.**

**I love you all so much and tell me what you think! I would love some more prompts if you have any!**

**DaniWest: Rachel shows up drunk after her and her cast mates go out-she shows up at Shelby's house and Shelby decides to lecture her or whatever you think.**

**Guest: Rachel gets drunk**

**Opening Night, Drunk**

"That performance was INCREDIBLE, Rach!" her cast member high fived her excitedly.

"Thank you," Rachel giggled.

"We should go out and celebrate." he suggested."

"All of us," grinned her friend Mary, another member of the cast.

Rachel shrugged. "Okay." It wasn't like she had anything else to do and the performance actually was incredible. She had felt really good about it, and why shouldn't she be able to go out and celebrate with the cast? Sure, they were all older than her but this was a chance for her to prove her maturity to them. To show that she could party with the big kids.

They took her to a club two blocks away from the theatre they perform the revival of Funny Girl at. And boy, did Rachel try to prove she could in fact "party with the big kids".

Shot after shot after shot Rachel downed, and she danced, and she grinded up against cast members, all out of fun. They yelled, she would yell too. They drank, so would she.

Never had she given thought to what she would do after her first night of getting so drunk. She didn't think about having to walk home, or having to do a show the next night.

All she had wanted was to get rid of some of the stress. To have a little bit of fun. To go to her first celebration club. To party with some of her friends.

Well, by the end of the night it was clear that she wasn't walking home, nor did she want to face Kurt and Santana. There was only one other place she could think to go, and she knew it was a very good AND very bad idea. But she was too drunk to care.

Stumbling out onto the side walk at 1:30 in the morning, she hailed a taxi and told him the address, slurring her words as she did so.

The taxi man shook his head and sighed, mumbling something about all the drunk ones always coming out at 1 in the morning or later.

He drove her to Shelby's apartment, she somehow managed to pay him the right amount of money, and she practically slammed the door behind her.

She tripped three times on her way up the stairs and knocked on Shelby's door-five quick taps.

It took a minute for Shelby to hear the knock from where she sat in the living room, fully immersed in a book she was reading. Slowly, she took her glasses off and stood. Who the hell was at her door at 1 in the morning? If it was Cassie she was gonna kill her.

She opened the door and was surprised as hell to see her daughter standing there, leaning against the door frame for support.

"Thank godddd, Mom." she somehow managed to slur those words, even. "I couldn't go home. Kurts been really bumming me out and-you know I just-I can't be bummed out right now i'm too-" she hiccupped. "I'm too happy."

Shelby raised a judgmental eyebrow. "You're too drunk." she stated the completely obvious. "Where were you?!"

She backed up so that Rachel could enter her apartment and Rachel practically collapsed down onto the couch. "At a cast party we were having at this club-" Rachel waved it off like it was nothing.

But to Shelby it definitely wasn't nothing.

"What club?" Shelby was extremely concerned for Rachel's well being. What was Rachel thinking, drinking so carelessly?! She wasn't even of age!

"Just a club." Rachel rolled her eyes.

"Rachel Berry, what the hell do you-"

"We were just having FUN, Mom. We did reallllyyyy well we totallyyyy deserved a night ouuuuut."

"How did you even get them to give you alcohol?!"

"I was with my friends, my cast members, they-they helped me."

Shelby rolled her eyes. It was too hard to talk to her right now. There was no point-she wasn't going to remember it the next day anyways.

"Rachel." she shook her head slowly back and forth. "What am I going to do with you?"

"Love me?"

"Oh so you're a needy sarcastic drunk. Fantastic. You're worse than Cassie...and Holly...AND April. Is this your first time being drunk?" Shelby took Rachel's shoes off for her and made her lie down on the couch before rushing to her room, grabbing a blanket and a pillow, and rushing back to the living room. Rachel tried to sit up and Shelby forced her back down, placing the pillow under her head after fluffing it, and draping the blanket across her.

"No, no, no. We all got drunk once during alcohol awareness week at McKinley..."

So she was drunk enough to slur her words but not enough to forget details of her life. Interesting.

With another sigh, Shelby actually half-laughed at her daughter. "During alcohol awareness week? Really?"

"Santana said we needed to be aware of how fun alcohol was..."

Shelby rolled her eyes. Leave it to Santana. Honestly.

"You need to sleep. I'm sure that won't be a hard thing for you to do. I will see you when you get up in the morning. And if I find out," Shelby glared her daughter down-an intimidating sight no matter how drunk Rachel was. "That you got off of this couch before morning, Rachel Barbra Berry I will kick your ass. Do you understand me?"

"You're gonna kick my ass anyways."' Rachel mumbled, drifting off into a dreamless sleep.

Shelby let out a huff of angry breath and stormed off to bed. Rachel wasn't wrong about that.

...

Rachel woke to the sound of Shelby's coffee maker. At eight in the morning. She let out a loud groan and pulled her head under the pillow.

"Turn it offf." she complained.

"Good morning to you, too, starshine." Shelby had her arms crossed over her chest as she leaned up against her counter. "Come sit at the table we need to talk."

"How-" Rachel sat up, opened her eyes, and regretted it. "It's so bright in here. How did I get here?"

"I haven't the slightest idea, you were too drunk to tell me."

Rachel knew then and there, by the tone of her mother's voice, by the way that she said what she did, that she was in deep trouble.

She sat up slowly and blinked a few times to regain her vision. Her head was pounding with the biggest headache she had ever had in her entire life. "It hurts, Mom." she whined.

"I know baby, I'm sure it does. Come sit down at the table." Shelby got her coffee and sat down in front of Rachel, who put her head into her hands. "Look at me, Rachel." Shelby said.

Rachel did so, guiltily. Terrified.

"What you did last night was completely inappropriate."

"I know I'm going to regret asking this," Rachel inhaled and exhaled, trying to get the pain to go away. "But will you catch me up to speed as to what it is I did last night? And can I have an aspirin?"

"No aspirin, we're going to talk first."

Rachel moaned lightly.

"You came to my house at almost two in the morning, drunk off your ass, and unable to talk to me properly. So I made you sleep on the couch."

"Made me?"

"Well I wasn't going to let you leave in your condition. Rachel what the hell were you thinking?"

"I..." Rachel took a deep breath. She and her mom had had a good mother daughter relationship for a while now, and she knew what she did was foolish, and she knew that she was likely to have to pay for it. She was paying for it. Her mother's disappointed tone of voice was punishment enough, she felt. She felt horrible. "I'm sorry, Mom. I really am. I wasn't thinking." Tears started to form in her eyes. "I...I wanted to prove to my cast members that even though I'm younger I can still act as old as them but I guess that didn't work. Because what I did wasn't very mature. And I'm sorry I bothered you at 2 in the morning. And I don't want this to ruin us and I'm really scared that it just did."

"Oh, Rachel," Shelby sighed softly, reaching for the tissue box and pushing it towards her poor, misunderstood daughter. "I know you had the intention to have fun but what you did was also very very dangerous. You didn't bother me last night-had you shown up sober I would've been pleased to see you-but you had me worried sick! You could've fallen and gotten hurt on the way here! It was late at night, and you were vulnerable as hell you could've been kidnapped, or gotten lost!"

Shelby's eyes started to fill with tears. "I just got you back, I CANNOT lose you again!" a tear slid down her cheek. "PROMISE me you'll never do that again?!"

Rachel nodded quickly, standing and sitting on Shelby's lap. Like she was a little girl. Right now, she felt like one.

"I promise, Mama. I promise I'll never do it again. I'm so sorry I scared you. I don't want to lose you either. Ever."

"And you won't lose me, Rachel. I promise. I'm sorry I got so mad. I was just so worried-"

"I know," Rachel smiled at her through her tears. "It's okay. You're my mom, it's your job to be worried."

A sudden thought occurred to her. "Oh my god Kurt and Santana must think I was abducted!"

Shelby laughed very lightly and whispered, "Calm down, I called them this morning."

Rachel put a hand to her heart. "Oh thank god. Look at you, always looking out for me."

Shelby shrugged, reaching her hand out to Rachel. Rachel opened her hand and Shelby dropped an aspirin into it.

"It's my job." Shelby told her.

Rachel smiled softly, feeling so lucky that she had a mother like Shelby to help her and scold her when it was necessary.


	20. Sibling Rivalry

**Here you are, my lovelies. **

**Been super busy with school work but i'm hoping to get chapters of different stories of mine written throughout spans of weekends. Today I was inspired to write some Opening Night.**

**Tell me what you think!**

**Takes place when Beth is about 6, and Rachel is around 21; close to 2 years after Opening Night of Funny Girl.**

**j. russnak : could you do one where Rachel and Beth have a fight and Shelby scolds/punishes both of them because she's trying to be fair?**

**Sibling Rivalry**

"Beth Charlotte Corcoran!" Rachel yelled out in obvious frustration, stomping around Shelby's apartment. "I told you to NEVER touch my sheet music! You ruined it!"

"Did NOT!" Beth screamed back, running out of her bedroom and off towards Shelby, who was sitting at the kitchen counter checking her email. "Mama! Tell her to leave me alone!"

"Rachel…" Shelby sighed in a slight tone of warning as her eldest made her way, furiously, towards her little sister. "Stop chasing Beth around the house."

"She RUINED my Les Mis sheet music! I TOLD her specifically NEVER to touch it. This was collector's edition!" Rachel stomped her foot, crossing her arms over her chest and for a moment, Shelby felt like she was raising two little daughters instead of a little girl and a grown woman.

"Well then MAYBE you shouldn't leave it LYING around!" Beth fought back, clinging tightly to the back of Shelby's shirt for safety. It wasn't often that Rachie yelled out of anger or frustration.

"It was on the PIANO stand." Rachel said through clenched teeth.

"I just wanted to see it! I was going to put it back!"

"Then WHY didn't you?!"

"CUZ YOU STARTED YELLING AT ME."

"Girls!" Shelby tried to interrupt, putting a hand to her head. All of this yelling was giving her a headache. Why could the girls never get along anymore? They used to be so good with each other… She hoped to god this constant arguing was just a phase they were going through. She could hardly stand another moment of it.

Of course, she was ignored as the girls continued to bicker.

"And why do you suppose THAT is?!" Rachel threw her hands up in defeat. "You're incorrigible!"

"Am NOT!"

Shelby let out a soft laugh and turned to her youngest, who was still clinging onto the bottom of her mama's shirt like her life depended on it. As if Rachel couldn't get to her when she was near Shelby. As if Shelby was the "safe" base in a game of tag. "Sweetheart do you even know what that word means?"

"Yes!"

"Then what does it mean?" Rachel raised a disbelieving and condescending eyebrow, putting her hands on her hips in a way that reminded Shelby of herself.

"It means whatever I want it to mean!" Beth snapped back, completely unsure what the word "incorrigible" meant at all. "Leave me alone, Rachie, I said I was sorry!"

"You're not acting very sorry!"

"Maybe I'd be sorrier if you STOPPED YELLING."

"BOTH OF YOU," Shelby shouted. "For the love of god, enough!"

Both girls fell silent at their mother's request.

"Now," Shelby took Beth's little hands and unwrapped them from her shirt, picking the young blonde up and setting her in front of her, next to an exasperated Rachel. "Rachel, what did she do to your music?"

"She spilled juice ALL over it! Half of—"

"Tell me _without_ that tone of voice."

Rachel took a deep breath and started again. "Half of On My Own was ruined, as well as most of I Dreamed a Dream AND Bring Him Home."

"Beth, if Rachel told you not to touch her sheet music, why did you take it off the piano stand?" Shelby asked her youngest, calmly.

Beth had tears swimming in her little eyes but she swallowed and forced them back. If she cried in front of Rachel, Rachel won. "I just wanted to try to play it, Mama. It was really pretty music and you're teaching me piano and I thought I could try I Dreamed a Dream but then I couldn't get it! So I took it to my room to read it and my juice got knocked over. It was an accident!"

"Okay." Shelby looked up hard at Rachel. "Apologize to your sister."

"Me?!" Rachel was appalled.

"Rachel Berry. You chased her around the house and yelled at her. She knows what she did and she's sorry. You almost have her in tears, Rachel. She deserves an apology from you at the very least. Maybe next time you'll learn not to leave prized sheet music at the piano."

Rachel rolled her eyes. She knew this seemed childish but sometimes Beth just…got to her. She tested Rachel's patience, which was low to begin with. "I'm sorry you didn't listen to me."

"Rachel!"

"I'm sorry I yelled at you." Rachel tried again with a sigh.

Beth just nodded and Rachel turned to walk away, muttering something under her breath about Shelby always taking Beth's side.

"I'm not picking sides, Barbra!" Shelby yelled after her. But Rachel had already locked herself in the studio. "Get BACK here." She called out. Rachel reluctantly came out of the studio, not wanting to piss her mother off more than she already was.

"Beth," Shelby looked down sternly at her youngest, who was pouting, with her arms crossed over her chest. Shelby sighed. She was raising such divas. "You know that it was very wrong of you to touch Rachel's music after she told you not to, even if your intentions were good. Even if it was an accident, you need to apologize to Rachel. And you're not to touch that piano for the rest of the weekend, understood?"

Beth nodded vigorously. "I'm sorry, Mama."

"It's okay baby. But I'm not the one you need to apologize to."

Turning her attention up to Rachel, Beth whispered angrily, "I'm sorry, Rachie."

"Are you?" clearly Rachel was not yet ready to let it go. She had been very attached to her sheet music.

Shelby shot her a glare. "That's it."

She stood up and shut her laptop, shoving it to the side. "Sit down. Both of you."

They did so.

"I'm an adult, you can't tell me what to—"

"Watch me."

Rachel widened her eyes a bit. An angry Shelby was actually sort of terrifying.

After leaving the room for a moment, Shelby came back with two pieces of lined paper.

On one she wrote, "I will not chase Beth around the house and yell at her, no matter how mad I am."

On the other she wrote, "I will not touch Rachel's things when she tells me not to."

She handed each daughter a pen and said, "Start writing. Don't get up until both sides of that paper are full."

"But, Mama!" Beth complained.

"This is ridiculous—"Rachel started.

"No, but do you know what's ridiculous? My 21 year old and my 6 year old yelling at each other and running around the house. I won't tolerate it anymore, understood? Now write, damn it."

So they did.

Shelby didn't think she was being unfair. She punished them both, because neither girl was right. There was no reason for them to quarrel as they were. It was unacceptable.

In 15 minutes Rachel was done writing.

Shelby glanced it over and sighed. "You can go."

It took Beth another 15 after Rachel was done.

Shelby looked over it and said softly, "You can go play, Beth."

The little blonde nodded and ran off to her bedroom, shutting her door tightly.

_That went well._ Shelby thought to herself with a long breath. _Maybe it'll be another week or so before it happens again. If I'm lucky._


End file.
